Fracture analysis of rounded-tip V-notched components made of rubber-like materials using averaged strain energy density criterion

Abstract

Nowadays, hyperelastic materials such as rubbers and elastomers have become increasingly important in research and industry. However, the existence of any geometric discontinuities like a crack or notch will affect the behavior of rubbers. Thus, the prediction of rupture condition in these materials is of paramount importance. One of the energy-based criteria, which has attracted many attentions due to its convenience in use and high precision, is the averaged strain energy density (ASED) criterion. Based on this criterion, a limited amount of energy in a specified volume around the stress concentration region controls the fracture of components. This criterion, which was already utilized extensively for brittle materials, has been recently extended for being used in cracked components having non-linear behavior like rubbers. On the other hand, by examining the previous studies, it can be concluded that despite the importance of rounded V-shaped notch, no research has been carried out in the presence of this type of stress concentration in hyperelastic materials. As a consequence, this study is devoted to investigate the rupture of rubbers containing a round-tip V-shape notch using the ASED criterion. To this end, first, some experiments are performed for rounded-tip V-notched rubber samples. Afterwards and in order to utilize the ASED criterion for predicting the rupture loads of tested samples, some finite element modeling considering both geometric and material non-linearities are performed. The comparison between the estimations of the ASED criterion and the corresponding experimental data reveals the high efficacy of this criterion in hyperelastic materials weakened by round-tip V-shape notches.