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CONTINUUM MECHANICS for ENGINEERS

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8 Nonlinear Elasticity<br />

8.1 Molecular Approach to Rubber Elasticity<br />

Many of today’s challenging design problems involve materials such as<br />

butadiene rubber (BR), natural rubber (NR), or elastomers. Rubber materials<br />

might be most easily characterized by the stretching and relaxing of a rubber<br />

band. The resilience of rubber, the ability to recover intial dimensions after<br />

large strain, was not possible with natural latex until Charles Goodyear<br />

discovered vulcanization in 1939. Vulcanization is a chemical reaction known<br />

as cross-linking which turned liquid latex into a non-meltable solid<br />

(thermoset). Cross-linked rubber would also allow considerable stretching<br />

with low damping; strong and stiff at full extension, it would then retract<br />

rapidly (rebound). One of the first applications was rubber-impregnated<br />

cloth, which was used to make the sailor’s “mackintosh.” Tires continue to<br />

be the largest single product of rubber although there are many, many other<br />

applications. These applications exhibit some or all of rubber’s four characteristics,<br />

viz. damping in motor mounts, rebound/resilience in golf ball cores,<br />

or simple stretching in a glove or bladder. While thermoset rubber remains<br />

dominant in rubber production, processing difficulties have led to the development<br />

and application of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). These materials<br />

are easier to process and are directly recyclable. While TPEs are not as rubberlike<br />

as the thermosets, they have found wide application in automotive fascia<br />

and as energy-absorbing materials.<br />

There are several reasons why designing with plastic and rubber materials<br />

is more difficult than with metals. For starters, the stress-strain response,<br />

that is, the constitutive response, is quite different. Figure 8.1A shows the<br />

stress-strain curves <strong>for</strong> a mild steel specimen along with the response of a<br />

natural rubber used in an engine mount. Note that the rubber specimen<br />

strain achieves a much higher stretch value than the steel. The dashed vertical<br />

line in Figure 8.1B represents the strain value of the mild steel at failure.<br />

This value is much less than the 200% strain the rubber underwent without<br />

failing. In fact, many rubber and elastomer materials can obtain 300 to 500%

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