Modeling and simulation of damage in elastomer structures at high strains

A new model is proposed in order to simulate correctly the behaviour of elastomers for very large deformations. The hyperelastic Hart–Smith’s model is revisited in order to take into account the damage of elastomers and the opening and the closing of micro-defects. Applications concern structures with elastomer used in space industry. Shear loadings are typical solicitations for these structures. Whenever the material is able to undergo very large deformations (600–700%), the simulation of this type of experiment up to so high strains is not easy. The failure of industrial finite element code leads us to develop a prototype software using a non-incremental method (large time increment method) and a material formulation with “rotated” quantities. Some applications are shown for elastic or hyperelastic materials, especially for nearly incompressible materials.