Time-dependent modeling and experimental characterization of foamed EPDM rubber
Stefan Buchen, Nils Hendrik Kröger, Thomas Reppel, Kerstin Weinberg
Abstract
Abstract Foamed rubber with a mixed cellular microstructure is a compressible material used for various sealing applications in the automotive industry. For technical optimization, a sufficiently precise material model is required. Here a material description for the porous elastic and viscoelastic response of low density foamed rubber is proposed and adapted to ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)-based rubber. The elastic description is based on a spherical shell model which is homogenized in an analytical and also in a numerical manner. A viscoelastic contribution accounts for the time-dependence of the material’s response. The derived constitutive model is implemented in a finite element software and calibrated experimentally with multi-step relaxation tensile tests of foamed EPDM rubber.