Simulating Mechanical Behavior of a Tread Rubber Compound by a Hyperelastic/Hysteresis Model

This research work is devoted to experimental and theoretical evaluations of a hybrid constitutive model which was designed to simulate the mechanical behavior of a tread rubber compound. The model is a combination of Yeoh hyperelastic model with a strain-rate hysteresis model developed by Bergstrom and Boyce. The parameters of the Yeoh model were calibrated from experimental data of the ASTM D-412 stress-strain test. Three rubber strip specimens with 11 cm length and 1, 2 and 3 cm widths were selected and simulated under tension using ABAQUS/Standard code. Comparison of the results with those obtained by experiments on the samples revealed that ignoring the viscoelasticity led to a signifcant error in prediction of the force-elongation behavior. Consequently, the simulations were repeated by using a hybrid model and the results showed that there were very good agreement between the experimental and simulated results. The model is also capable of calculating the dissipated energy which can be used for the prediction of temperature rise in rubber articles with dynamic loading.