Mechanical characterization of rubber from one heterogeneous test

International audienceThe present study deals with the mechanical characterization of elastomeric materials. Classically, three homogeneous tests are considered to identify constitutive parameters, namely Uniaxial Tensile (UT), Pure Shear (PS) and Equibiaxial Tensile (ET) tests. Here, a new method is proposed: it consists in inducing the three previous homogeneous tests from only one heterogeneous mechanical test. For this purpose, a conventional tensile machine is used and a new apparatus is designed to be adapted on the machine. The test-induced heterogeneity is discussed related to two criteria based on the existence of UT, PS and ET and on the distribution of the maximal principal elongation at each material points of the sample surface. Experimentally, kinematic fields are provided on the sample surface by an image correlation code suitable for large deformations. Finally, an inverse technique, so-called Virtual Field Method, is used to identify the material parameters in the framework of the Mooney hyperelasticity