| Life Prediction of Rubber Life prediction addresses the functional requirements of components
and associated failure mechanisms e.g.
- Excessive creep in a mount due to thermal and oxidative ageing
- Excessive stress relaxation in a seal due to fluid permeation and chemical
ageing
- Excessive change in stiffness and damping in a vibration isolator due
to ageing
- Loss of load capability in a mount or bush due to fatigue crack growth
|
In each case suitable models may be derived from appropriate
materials tests to predict the rate of failure. For example, the rate
of fatigue crack growth in a component can be predicted from:
(i) The change in tearing energy with crack length
(T vs. c) from a finite element analysis of the component and
(ii) The crack growth model for the rubber that
relates the rate of crack growth to the tearing energy ( dc/dN =
f (T)).
|
Finite element crack analysis of automotive top mount
and fatigue damage in a component (circled) |
