ABSTRACT

Lifetime estimations based on FE-calculations of elastomeric components are being accepted more and more in the automotive and supplier industry. This chapter discusses the application of the hysteresis area, calculated from a micro plastic material model, as a damage parameter for components, which fail preferably internally. The well known phenomenon of the amplitude dependence of the elastomeric properties (Fletcher-Gent-Effect) leads to the complex stiffness of rubber and metal-rubber components. Particularly the stress state and the hysteresis area are functions of the local deformation amplitude. The chapter deals with a micro-plastic material model for filled elastomers, which is able to reproduce these complex component properties under multi-axle cyclic loads. The rheological model is based on the assumption, that micro plastic effects are responsible for the amplitude dependent energy dissipation. With the use of the developed model in every location of the component not only the dynamic modulus and the stress-strain state can be determined, but the local dissipated energy as well.