FE and probabilistic analysis for rubber life estimation considering cracking energy density as a fatigue predictor

Abstract

This article suggests an engineering design for developing the probabilistic Wöhler diagram of rubber parts. The presented methodology includes multiaxial fatigue study as well as probabilistic fatigue calculation based on Wöhler diagrams. This approach is basically built on the Cracking Energy Density (CED) criterion. This is achieved by combining sophisticated Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). To this end, a 3D-FEA numerical model is produced for several loading cases by means of the commercial software ABAQUS.