Finite Element Analysis of Load-Deflection and Creep Characteristics of Compressed Rubber Components for Vibration Control Devices

Abstract

Elastomeric (rubber-like) materials are extensively used in various machine design applications, particularly for flexible elements of vibration/shock/noise control devices and of power transmission couplings. In order to have high performance characteristics, such elements should accommodate large static and dynamic loads and/or large deflections in a limited size. In many applications high damping, low creep and substantial nonlinearity of the load-deflection characteristic are required. These contradictory requirements are often impossible to satisfy just by selecting special rubber blends. It was demonstrated in [9] that for unbonded rubber flexible elements of a cylindrical shape loaded in a radial direction, desirable nonlinear load-deflection characteristics can be naturally obtained, and creep rate can be significantly reduced as compared with conventional shapes of bonded rubber elements loaded in compression. This paper presents the second part of the study [9]. It applies the Finite Element Method to analyze large deformations of nonlinear components made of viscoelastic materials. Some convenient and efficient methods are proposed to determine material constants for the analytical study of static load-deflection characteristics and creep. These proposed methods result in good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental results in [9]