Fatigue life prediction of rubber materials using tearing energy

It has been almost impossible to predict the fatigue life in the field of rubber materials by numerical methods. One of the reasons is that there are no obvious fracture criteria and excessively various ways of mixing processes. Tearing energy is considered as a fracture criterion which can be applied to rubber compounds regardless of different types of fillers, relative to other fracture factors. Fatigue life of rubber materials can be approximately predicted based on the assumption that the latent defect caused by contaminants or voids in the matrix, imperfectly dispersed compounding ingredients, mold lubricants and surface flaws always exists. Numerical expression for the prediction of fatigue life was derived from the rate of rough cut growth region and the formulated tearing energy equation. Endurance test data for dumbbell specimens were compared with the predicted fatigue life for verification. Also, fatigue life of industrial rubber components was predicted.