On the derivation and application of a finite strain thermo-viscoelastic material model for rubber components

Abstract

This contribution deals with a modified material model of the finite thermoviscoelasticity for the efficient calculation of the dissipative self-heating of elastomer components. The occurrence of critical temperatures, which can lead to loss of functionality or component failure, can be identified at an early stage. Here, the focus lies on industrial applicability, which, in addition to calculation time and quality, also includes the experimental effort required to identify the material parameters. This contribution starts with the formulation of a thermomechanically consistent constitutive model. For this purpose, an appropriate description of the kinematics and the derivation of the constitutive relationships is carried out. These are transferred in a suitable way into the form used by the commercial finite element software ABAQUS and implemented as a thermomechanically fully coupled problem. Furthermore, an industrially applied elastomer material is characterised and the model is parameterized in a special method by selecting the potential function. Finally, the validation of the model and its parameterization are carried out by means of experimental component tests.