Visco-Hyper-Pseudo-Elastic Characterization of a Fluoro-Silicone Rubber

The use of rubber like materials has a number applications, from automotive to aeronautics and many other fields particular, as they are often used to make gaskets, hoses, separation membranes, vibration absorbers, etc. In order to optimize and enhance the performances of a rubber component, a FEA is frequently required. Although many models are available to describe the complex material behavior of rubber, companies are more often interested in those ones which are already available in commercial FEA packages. Therefore the key point for a successful analysis becomes the correct identification of the constitutive parameters. In this paper, a complete characterization of the visco-hyper-pseudo-elastic behavior of a commercial fluoro-silicone rubber is discussed. The procedure allows to completely describe the material mechanical properties in non stationary conditions. The hyper and pseudo-elastic behavior is identified using the virtual fields method and full-field measurements on cruciform specimens. Then a compressive test is performed to add the visco-elasticity. Both the identification procedures and validation tests are presented in the paper. All the used theoretical models are already implemented in the major commercial FE codes.