SIMULATION OF RUBBER-COATED FABRIC MATERIAL DAMAGE

摘要

The objective of this work is to describe part of the selecting process of a rubber-coated fabric material model. The material is used to construct an air cushion that is a carrying element of the cassette pontoon bridge unit. During operation the air cushion is permanently in contact with a metal component, fresh water and air. Therefore various interactions, such as a contact problem, flow of medium and thermodynamics can occur. The basic material model for numerical simulation was selected based on the uniaxial tensile test. The simple method was used to describe time-dependent material properties for numerical analysis, which allows computation to take a reasonable time. In order to assess the usefulness of the selected material model the impact puncture test was modelled with the same conditions and properties as in the laboratory testing machine called Instron. Moreover, an attempt of simulating the damage process is described. The energy absorbed by the material was registered during the laboratory test which was compared with the results of numerical analysis. An acceptable compatibility of the results is noticed.