On Cohesive Element Based Analysis of Rubber and Elastomeric Composites

High fidelity damage evaluation of elastomeric products should be based on analysis of both cracking initiation and growth. Application of so-called cohesive elements in FEA-based fracture analysis seems to be a very promising approach to capture these processes in computationally efficient and physically adequate way. Recent results (Gurvich, RC&T, N4, 2010), for example, demonstrated unique capabilities of this approach for analysis of complex laminated elastomeric composites. Significant challenges, however, are still associated with the hyper-elastic nature and corresponding non-linear issues of rubber deformation. Thus, the objective of this study is development of a generalized method of cohesive element based modeling specifically for hyper-elastic, highly non-linear problems. An additional objective is demonstration of the method on examples of representative damage mechanisms and load conditions. The paper covers details of computational implementations and discusses effects of non-linearity on obtained solutions. Finally, results of representative parametric studies are summarized in form of helpful recommendations for practical engineering analysis.