ABSTRACT
Elastomers are widely used in industry and everyday life’s application. Their outstanding mechanical extensibility and damping characteristics are the reason for their use as vibration dampers in large structures, engine mounts and machine components. Their mechanical behavior has been described in the context of hyperelasticity, viscoelasticity as well as in the context of damage and fracture mechanics. However, due to their low heat conductivity in comparison to metal components, internal dissipation phenomena lead to a high temperature increase, especially for geometrically compact and cyclic loaded parts. Therefore, one aim of this work is to include the thermal response of elastomeric materials by a thermo-mechanical material model as well as its application in the context of the Finite Element Method (FEM). Nowadays, the FEM is a standard method for engineers to investigate and predict the behavior of structural components of arbitrary geometry and loading conditions. Hence, a second aim of this contribution is the identification of the model parameters which is a prerequisite for its practical application to design tasks.
