Simulation of fluid driven crack propagation along metal/elastomer interface - Application to the numerical analysis of the rubber cord adhesion inflation test

Abstract

The Rubber Cord Adhesion Inflation Test (RCAIT) has been proposed as an alternative technique to more standard pull out protocols such as H, T or pull out tests for characterizing the adhesion between cord/cable reinforcement and rubber. During this test, a fluid is injected in between a wire and a rubber cylindrical envelope to provoke the interface separation once a critical pressure is reached. A simple energy balance analysis is used to evaluate the critical strain energy release rate, GC, which drives the crack propagation from measurable quantities. However, some assumptions should be assessed to ensure reliable GC evaluation. Then, a predictive finite elements simulation of the RCAIT is proposed to simulate the fluid driven crack nucleation and propagation process along the rubber cord interface. These results are compared with the ones obtained from the RCAIT simplified analysis.