On Induced Anisotropy of Mechanical Properties of Elastomers

Abstract

A model of elastomers is presented, aimed at a comprehensive description of the deformation and strength properties characteristic of this type of material: a decrease in stiffness under repeated tension (the Mullins effect), elastic hysteresis and its anisotropy, induced strength anisotropy (a decrease in tensile strength during repeated stretching in the direction perpendicular to the primary stretching). The model is based on the consideration of the classical mechanism of changing the configurations of polymer molecules during deformation and structural modification (mainly due to the sliding of molecules along inclusion particles), which leads to an increase in the length of polymer chains in the direction of extension due to their reduction in other directions, and allows us to describe these characteristic features without involving the concept of “damage”.