Cyclic thermo-viscoplasticity of carbon black-reinforced thermoplastic elastomers

Observations are reported on carbon black-filled thermoplastic elastomer Thermoplast K in uniaxial cyclic tensile tests with strain rates ranging from 10(-4) to 10(-1) s(-1) at temperatures in the interval from 50 to 90 degrees C. Constitutive equations are derived for the viscoplastic response of a thermoplastic elastomer at three-dimensional deformations with finite strains. Given a temperature and a strain rate, the stress-strain relations involve six adjustable parameters that are found by fitting the experimental data. It is shown that the model correctly describe the observations and its parameters are affected by temperature and strain rate in a physically plausible way. The governing equations are applied to predict the mechanical response of the composite in low cycle fatigue tests. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.