A new elastic-plastic material model with non-linear elastic behaviour for thermoplastic elastomers

Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE) are materials, which combine the advantages of elastomers and thermoplastics. TPE is not only used as replacement for thermoplastics. More and more parts, formerly made of rubber like CVJ boots and hydraulic seals, are nowadays made of TPE. Since the mechanical behavior of TPEs is different to elastomers, the design of TPE parts cannot be copied directly from their elastomeric counterparts. Therefore, new designs must be developed. In this process, FEA is a powerful tool to support the product development. To provide this support, a precise numerical description of the material behavior is required. Experimental characterization of the material has shown, that the behavior is strongly non-linear, and there is a big influence of inelastic effects. Up to now, there is no material model available in ABAQUS to describe these effects. Therefore, at Freudenberg a new material model has been developed, which can describe the nonlinearity as well as the inelasticity. With this model it is now possible to predict the behavior of TPE-parts, especially the effects of inelastic deformation