Ratcheting response of nylon fiber reinforced natural rubber/styrene butadiene rubber composites under uniaxial stress cycles: Experimental studies

The present study intends to study the ratcheting response of nylon fiber reinforced natural rubber (NR)-styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) composite samples under asymmetric stress cycles. Uniaxial tests conducted on composite samples have shown how influential the weight fraction of short nylon fibers on the stress-strain curves/loops under monotonic and cyclic loads is. NR/SBR composite samples with various fiber contents of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 per hundred rubber (phr) were tested under asymmetric stress cycles. In these tests, stress-strain hysteresis loops were progressively shifted over stress cycles resulting in progressive plastic strain accumulation. Over stress cycles, ratcheting strain progressed within the first few cycles with a relatively high rate, and as the number of cycles increased, this rate decayed resulting in a plateau in strain accumulation (shakedown). The ratcheting strain rate and magnitude resulting in shakedown were highly affected by the nylon fiber content. The experimental observations showed that this plateau (shakedown) occurred after a number of cycles in NR/SBR composite samples where the widths of hysteresis loops stayed unchanged. Samples with no fiber and that with 10 phr fiber content possessed high ratcheting rates leading samples to failure after a few stress cycles. Fracture surfaces in these samples were further analyzed through SEM investigation.