Mixed-mode (I/II) rupture assessment of rubber-like materials weakened by cracks using the averaged strain energy density criterion

In the present study, the application of the averaged strain energy density (ASED) criterion is extended from pure mode-I to mixed-mode (I/II) loading for hyperelastic materials. Indeed, the use of a recently proposed method by the present authors for determination of the critical values of strain energy density and radius of control volume in mode-I loading has been generalized to the mixed-mode loading conditions. The key point in the generalization is the almost uniaxial state of stress fields near the crack tip in rubber-like materials. To validate the accuracy of the criterion in mixed-mode (I/II) loading, a new set of experiments on rubbers weakened by cracks has been carried out. The experimental results confirm the accuracy of the ASED criterion in the case of cracked rubbers under mixed-mode (I/II) loading