A damage model for the fatigue life of elastomeric materials

A continuum damage model is proposed to investigate the fatigue damage behavior for elastomers. The elastic strain energy of a damaged material is expressed based on the Ogden model, and the damage strain energy release rate is derived in the context of continuum damage mechanics. The damage evolution equation is established to develop a formula to describe the fatigue life as a function of the nominal strain amplitude under cyclic loading. Experiments on the fatigue of a carbon-filled natural rubber were conducted to determine the relation between the fatigue life and the nominal strain amplitude, The results indicate that the theoretical formula for the fatigue life as a function of the nominal strain amplitude, derived from the proposed damage model, can describe experimental data for carbon-filled natural rubbers very well. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.