Fatigue life prediction of bonded rubber components at elevated temperature

Earlier work has shown that a fracture mechanics approach can predict fatigue failure in rubber or elastomer components using a finite element analysis technique that calculates the strain energy release rate for cracks introduced into bonded rubber components. This paper extends this previous work to examine real fatigue measurements made at both room temperature and 70±1°C in both tension and shear using a cylindrical rubber to metal bonded component. This component generated fatigue failures not only in the bulk of the component but also at the rubber to metal bond interface. The fatigue crack growth characteristics were measured independently using a pure shear crack test piece. Using this independent crack growth data and an accurate estimate for the initial flaw size allowed the fatigue life to be calculated. This fracture mechanics approach predicted the crack growth rates well at both room temperature and 70±1°C.