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Many factors are known to influence the mechanical fatigue life of rubber components. Four major categories of factors are reviewed here: the effects of mechanical loading history, environmental effects, effects of rubber formulation, and effects due to dissipative aspects of the constitutive response of rubber. For each category, primary factors are described, and existing literature is presented and reviewed. Rubber's fatigue behavior is extremely sensitive to both the maximum and minimum cyclic load limits. Other aspects of the mechanical load history are also discussed, including the effects of static loaded periods (“annealing”), load sequence, multiaxiality, frequency, and loading waveform. Environmental factors can affect both the short and long term fatigue behavior of rubber. The effects of temperature, oxygen, ozone, and static electrical charges are reviewed. A great range of behavior is available by proper manipulation of formulation and processing variables. Effects of elastomer type, filler type and volume fraction, antidegradants, curatives, and vulcanization are discussed. The role of dissipative constitutive behavior in the improvement of fatigue properties of rubber is also reviewed. Four distinct dissipative mechanisms are identified, and their effects on fatigue behavior are described.

This paper describes a new model for predicting multiaxial fatigue crack initiation in rubber. The work is motivated by a need to predict crack initiation life in tires, based on strain histories obtained via finite element analysis. The new model avoids the need to explicitly include cracks in the finite element model, and applies when the cracks are small compared to the strain gradient. The model links the far-field strain state to the energy release rate of an assumed intrinsic flaw. This is accomplished through a new parameter, the cracking energy density. The cracking energy density is the portion of the total elastic strain energy density that is available to be released on a given material plane. The model includes an algorithm to select the material plane which minimizes the life prediction for a given strain history. The consequences of the theory for simple strain histories are presented, as well as predictions for more complicated histories. The theory is compared with published data, and with new results from recent combined axial/torsion fatigue experiments.

Rubber parts in service often experience complex strain histories that can cause mechanical failure. The ability to predict the effects of complex strain histories on fatigue life is therefore a critical need. This paper presents recent results of cyclic, combined tension/torsion fatigue experiments, and compares them with predictions based on a new parameter, the Cracking Energy Density. The Cracking Energy Density is the stored elastic energy density that is available to a crack on a given material plane, and can be calculated for an arbitrarily complex strain history. The ability of Cracking Energy Density to predict the fatigue life and cracking plane is evaluated for both in-phase and out-of-phase histories of combined axial and shear strain.

Rubber components subjected to fluctuating loads often fail due to nucleation and the growth of defects or cracks. The prevention of such failures depends upon an understanding of the mechanics underlying the failure process. This investigation explores the nucleation and growth of cracks in filled natural rubber. Both fatigue macro‐crack nucleation as well as fatigue crack growth experiments were conducted using simple tension and planar tension specimens, respectively. Crack nucleation as well as crack growth life prediction analysis approaches were used to correlate the experimental data. Several aspects of the fatigue process, such as failure mode and the effects of R ratio (minimum strain) on fatigue life, are also discussed. It is shown that a small positive R ratio can have a significant beneficial effect on fatigue life and crack growth rate, particularly at low strain range.