Modeling and experimental validation of transverse compressive behavior of sepiolite reinforced rubber composites

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on the transverse compressive behavior of sepiolite reinforced rubber sealing composites (SRRC). A finite element model of the representative volume element (RVE) extracted from the mesoscopic structure is established, in which the fibers are randomly distributed and the cohesive elements are embedded in the fiber/matrix interface. The RVE model with different sepiolite fiber volume fractions (20 %, 33 % and 42 %) are analyzed, where the interface with perfect bonding condition or not is considered. On the assumption that the fiber/ matrix interface is perfect bonded, the compressive stress-strain curve of SRRC with the fiber volume fraction of 33 % is obtained. The result indicates that the assumption of perfect bonding is not appropriate to predict the compressive behavior of SRRC when the compressive strain is larger than 0.1. An interfacial parametric study with the fiber volume fraction of 33 % is carried out to assess the effect of the interfacial properties on the stress-strain relationship. It is found that the simulation results agree well with the experimental result when the interfacial strength is 2 MPa and the interfacial fracture energy is larger than 0.5 J/m2. The effects of different fiber volume fractions (20 % and 42 %) with the certain interfacial parameters on the compressive behavior of SRRC are investigated. The results reveal that the predictions agree well with experimental data, which indicates that the proposed approach gives an advantage in evaluating the transverse compression behavior of SRRC without further morphological experiments.