Computational Method for Dynamic Properties of Rubber Isolators Using Hyperelastic-viscoelastic-plastoelastic Constitutive Model

The dynamic properties of rubber materials are related to excitation amplitude and excitation frequency. Based on the overlay method of constitutive models, the hyperelastic-viscoelastic-plastoelastic constitutive model is built for characterizing the dynamic properties of rubber materials. The hyperelastic model is used to describe the elastic property of rubber materials, and the viscoelastic and plastoelastic models are used to characterize the frequency and amplitude dependency, respectively. Parameter identification method and the computational aspects of the frequency- and amplitude-dependent dynamic properties of the rubber isolators are investigated. The model parameters are identified by using the simple shear experimental data of rubber specimens. Based on the identified model parameters, the dynamic properties of a powertrain rubber mount are calculated by using the finite element analysis method and the calculated results agree well with the experimental data. It is shown that the presented model can predict the frequency- and amplitude-dependent dynamic properties of the rubber materials with little relative errors. Therefore, the presented method can be used for prediction and optimization design of the dynamic properties of rubber isolators.