STRAIN-CONTROLLED BIAXIAL TENSION OF NATURAL RUBBER: NEW EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Abstract

We present a new experimental method and provide data showing the response of 40A natural rubber in uniaxial, pure shear, and biaxial tension. Real-time biaxial strain control allows for independent and automatic variation of the velocity of extension and retraction of each actuator to maintain the preselected deformation rate within the gage area of the specimen. Wealso focus on the Valanis-Landel hypothesis that is used to verify and validate the consistency of the data.Weuse a threeterm Ogden model to derive stress-stretch relations to validate the experimental data. The material model parameters are determined using the primary loading path in uniaxial and equibiaxial tension. Excellent agreement is found when the model is used to predict the response in biaxial tension for different maximum in-plane stretches. The application of the Valanis-Landel hypothesis also results in excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction.