ON THE INFLATION OF A LONG ELASTIC TUBE IN THE PRESENCE OF AXIAL LOAD

When inflating long circular tubes made from some rubber compounds it is possible for a localization type of instability to occur. The localization takes the form of a bulge which forms somewhere along the length of the tube. Further inflation results in axial enlargement of the bulged section. This occurs at a value of pressure which is substantially lower than the pressure at which the bulge was first initiated. The paper presents experimental and analytical results which show how the initiation and steady state propagation of such bulges in latex rubber tubes is affected by the presence of axial tensile load. © 1990.