Biaxial Fatigue Investigations On Polychloroprene Rubber

Understanding phenomenon induced by complex fatigue solicitations is an important issue for the conception of industrial components. Due to their interesting mechanical behavior and their diversity, rubber materials are more and more used in industry. Uniaxial fatigue results in polychloroprene rubber highlight an unusual increase of fatigue lives and microscopic manifestations of cristallization phenomennon at high R-ratios. Secondly, an experimental investigation is then developed to study the influence of multiaxial loadings on the fatigue behavior. To reproduce multiaxial solicitations, combined tension torsion tests were carried out, with several values of phase angle between tension and torsion on this material, used on silent-block applications. A constitutive model is needed to calculate multiaxial fatigue criteria, and then analyze fatigue results. A large strain viscoelastic model is then used to determine the material’s stress-strain law. Dissipated Energy Density is used as a multiaxial fatigue criterion, and compared with those usually seen on the literature. Specially designed complementary tests are being carried out to identify specific micromechanisms occurring under uniaxial tension as opposed to torsion.