On the account of a cohesive interface for modeling the behavior until break of highly filled elastomers

Abstract The nonlinear behavior and failure of highly filled elastomers are significantly impacted by the volume fraction, the size and nature of fillers and the matrix stiffness. Original experimental data obtained on glass beads reinforced acrylates and on propellants allow illustrating and discussing the main effects generally observed. In order to better understand the effects of the microstructure and constitutive parameters on the behavior and failure of highly filled elastomers, a composite model, represented by a 2D periodic cell with randomly dispersed particles, with an account of a cohesive zone at the filler/matrix interface is used. Finite element simulations with finite strain provide insight on the stress–strain responses dependence to the model parameters and allow defining a failure criterion perceived by the appearance of a critical fibrillar microstructure.