Abstract
When making dynamic fatigue tests on rubbers, fracture mechanics based methods are often used. Here test specimens are provided with cracks (sharp notches) and the growth of these cracks is measured as a function of the number of load cycles. The advantage with fracture mechanics based methods is mainly a reduction in testing time and sometimes less scatter of the results compared to conventional S-N (stress versus number of cycles) testing. More fundamental data that can be applied to many different test-geometries and loading cases is also obtained.
In this review results are presented from several investigations dealing with fracture mechanics based fatigue testing of rubbers. Important material- and test-related parameters that will affect the results are discussed. Special attention is given to the so called fatigue threshold, which is the limit below which no mechano-oxidative fatigue crack growth will occur. The magnitude of the threshold is important when e.g. calculating fatigue lifetimes of rubber parts.
The review ends with a section dealing with how to calculate fatigue lifetime from crack growth data and an experimental section dealing with fatigue tests on two natural rubbers.
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