Polyconvex strain energy functions for anisotropic elastomers

摘要

Fiber-reinforced or calendered elastomers are characterized by anisotropy which should be taken into account in the constitutive modeling. To this end, we propose in the present contribution a class of polycon-vex anisotropic strain energy functions. They are given by power series with an arbitrary number of terms and associated material coefficients which can be evaluated from experimental data. Each term of this power series a priori satisfies the condition of the energy and stress free natural state so that no additional restrictions have to be imposed. A good agreement with experimental data on calendered rubber sheets is achieved.