Micromechanical simulation of silicon rubber reinforced with MMT nanoclay

This work investigates Silicon Rubber (SR) reinforced with Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay for its mechanical properties. A micromechanical numerical model, based on a representative volume element (RVE) method for silicon rubber/MMT is developed using a commercial finite element software package. The model uses elastoplastic material model with ductile damage for silicon rubber and a linear elastic model for MMT nano clay. Silicon rubber/MMT nanocomposite is modeled with different weight percent-ages of MMT varied from 0.2 to 2 %. The nanocomposite show improvement in the properties with an increase in MMT percentage. The RVE model results are compared with the analytical models and are found to be in good agreement.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Second International Conference on Engineering Materials, Metallurgy and Manufacturing.

Automated summary

This study investigates the mechanical properties of silicon rubber reinforced with montmorillonite nanoclay. It develops a micromechanical numerical model based on the representative volume element method and compares the results with analytical models, showing improvement in properties with an increase in nanoclay percentage.