Experimental Study and Finite Element Simulation of Heat Build-Up in Rubber Compounds with Application to Fracture
Abstract IR thermography was used to measure surface temperature profiles of cylindrical rubber specimens during cyclic compression. A linearized constitutive approach and finite element analysis were used to evaluate heat generation and associated transient temperature fields. Modeled temperatures compared well with the IR measurements. This led to extended simulation efforts on lab fracture samples. IR thermography was used to measure temperature of filled NR and filled SBR specimens during tensile fatigue cut growth tests. Temperature gradients are expected to relate to kinetics of rubber fracture and identify regions within the sample that are undergoing accelerated damage. The following cut growth issues were addressed: 1) crack propagation direction in a non-uniform stress field; 2) crack propagation direction as a function of the angle of initial cuts; 3) initiation of crack branching; and 4) catastrophic failure. The nonlinear coupled mechanical and thermal FEA was used to evaluate the energy dissipation in the non-homogeneous cyclic deformation of cracked samples. Modeled and measured surface temperatures are in good agreement. Accounting for heat build-up ahead of an advancing crack can improve numerical models that quantify fatigue cut growth behavior in rubber compounds.