Mechanical behavior of fabric-reinforced elastomer straight flexible hoses

Abstract

This paper presents a model applicable to large strain analysis of composite materials such as flexible hoses. A three-dimensional constitutive law, which uses the concept of convected coordinate frame, is developed for materials presenting non linear elastic and linear orthotropic behaviors in the large deformation field. The proposed model is implemented in a finite element home code and the formulation of both the hyperelastic and the orthotropic constitutive laws is presented. Finally, in order to validate our numerical results, an experimental device is developed to exhibit the mechanical behavior of straight flexible hoses in the case of elementary tests. The model is then compared to these experimental results.

Keywords

• Orthotropy
• Hyperelasticity
• Fabric-reinforced rubber
• Flexible hose