Finite Element Simulation of Viscoelastic

Damping Materials

Xiangming Zhang, Shaohong Yang, and Liwei Chen

Department of Mechanics, Naval University of Engineering,

Wuhan 430033, china

Abstract. This article presents the numerical simulation of the static

and dynamic response of viscoelastic materials with the finite element
method. In particular, elastomeric solids which are of essential engineer-
ing interest are discussed. A rubbery elastic manner is assumed to be
modeled with an Ogden-type strain energy function well-known from
rubber elasticity. A Prony series represents the relaxation moduli is ex-
ploited in order to derive a recursive relationship. By using a general
finite element software ANSYS, several representative numerical exam-
ples illustrate relaxation and creeping phenomena.

Keywords: rubber-like materials; viscoelasticity; hyperelasticity, finite

element, nonlinearity, ANSYS.

1 Introduction
Many practical applications in industrial engineering, particularly structural ap-
plications using polymeric materials, involve time-dependent highly non-linear
deformation phenomena.
The present work deals with the physical modeling and the finite element
analysis of structures of viscoelastic substances. One example we have in mind
is vulcanized rubber which exhibits a rapid stress decay within the higher-
temperature range of the rubbery region. The stress relaxation characterized
by discrete relaxation spectra causes mechanical and thermal hystereses, which
severely complicates the treatments of polymers.
This paper is mainly to employ the compressible elastic Ogden model[1,2].
This model, with only three pairs of coefficients known from empirical rubber
elasticity, excellently replcates the finite extensibility domain of polymer chains
and represents the best-known approximation to real material behaviour[3,4].
Further goals are to present a sound macroscopic continuum basis for elastomeric
materials which enables an efficient FE analysis and to illustrate the meaningful
behavior of the described viscoelastic model which admits general finite elasticity
for long-time behavior.

2 Hyperelasticity
A material is said to be hyperelastic if there exists an elastic potential function W
(or strain energy density function) which is a scalar function of one of the strain

D.-S. Huang, L. Heutte, and M. Loog (Eds.): ICIC 2007, CCIS 2, pp. 1234–1241, 2007.

c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007
 Finite Element Simulation of Viscoelastic Damping Materials 1235

or deformation tensors, whose derivative with respect to a strain component

determines the corresponding stress component. This can be expressed by
∂W ∂w
Sij = ≡2 (1)
∂Eij ∂Cij
where Sij = components of the second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensorW = strain
energy function per unit undeformed volume; Eij = components of the La-
grangian strain tensor; Cij = components of the right Cauchy-Green deforma-
tion tensor.
The Lagrangian strain may be expressed as follows
1
Eij = (Cij − δij ) (2)
2
where, ij = Kronecker delta (δij = 1, i = j; δij = 0, i = j) The deformation
tensor Cij is comprised of the products of the deformation gradients fij

Cij = Fik Fkj (3)

where, Fij = deformation gradient; Xi = undeformed position of a point in

direction i; xi = Xi + ui =deformed position of a point in direction i; ui =
displacement of a point in direction i.
The Kirchhoff stress is defined as

τij = Fik Skl Flj (4)

and the Cauchy stress is obtained by

1
σij = τij = Fik Skl Flj (5)
J
The eigenvalues (principal stretch ratios) of Cij are λ21 , λ22 , λ23 and and exist
only if
det[Cij − λ2p δij ] = 0 (6)
which can be re-expressed as

λ6p − λ4p I1 + λ2p I2 − I3 = 0 (7)

where, I1 , I2 , and I3 = invariants of Cij ,

I1 = λ21 + λ22 + λ33

I2 = λ21 λ22 + λ22 λ23 + λ23 λ21 (8)
I3 = λ21 λ22 λ23 = J 2

and
J = det(Fij ) (9)
J is also the ratio of the deformed elastic volume over the reference (undeformed)
volume of materials[4,5].
1236 X. Zhang, S. Yang, and L. Chen

Under the assumption that material response is isotropic, it is convenient

to express the strain energy function in terms of strain invariants or principal
stretches[6]
W = W (I1 , I2 , I3) = W (I1 , I2, J) (10)
or
W = W (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) (11)
Define the volume-preserving part of the deformation gradient, F ij , as

F ij = J − 3 Fij
1
(12)

and thus
J = det(F ij ) = 1 (13)
The modified principal stretch ratios and invariants are then

λp = J − 3 Ip
1
(p = 1, 2, 3) (14)
− 23
Ip = J Ip (15)

The strain energy potential can then be defined as

W = W (I 1 , I 2 , J) = W (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 , J) (16)

The Ogden form of strain energy potential is based on the principal stretches
of left-Cauchy strain tensor, which has the form

N
μi αi αi αi 
N
1
W = (λ1 + λ2 + λ3 − 3) + (J − 1)2k (17)
i=1
αi dk
k=1

where, N = material constant ; μi , αi , dk = material constants.

The initial shear modulus, μ, is given as

1
N
μ= αi μi (18)
2 i=1

The initial bulk modulus is

2
K= . (19)
di

3 Viscoelasticity

3.1 Constitutive Equations

A material is viscoelastic if its stress response consists of an elastic part and vis-
cous part. Upon application of a load, the elastic response is instantaneous while
the viscous part occurs over time. Generally, the stress function of a viscoelastic
 Finite Element Simulation of Viscoelastic Damping Materials 1237

material is given in an integral form. Within the context of small strain theory,
the constitutive equation for an isotropic viscoelastic material can be written as
 t  t
dΔ
σ= 2G(t − τ )f racdedτ dτ = I K(t − τ ) dτ (20)
0 0 dτ
where, σ = Cauchy stress;e =deviatoric part of the strain; Δ = volumetric part
of the strain; G(t) = shear relaxation kernel function; K(t) = bulk relaxation
kernel function; t = current time; τ = past time; I = unit tensor.
The kernel functions are represented in terms of Prony series, which assumes
that

nG
t
G(t) = G∞ + Gi exp(− ) (21)
i=1
τiG

nk
t
K(t) = K∞ + Ki exp(− ) (22)
i=1
τiK

where, G∞ , Gi = shear elastic moduli; K∞ , Ki = bulk elastic moduli; τiG , τiK =

relaxation times for each Prony component
Introducing the relative moduli,

αG
i = Gi /G0 (23)
αK
i = Ki /K0 (24)

where,

nG 
nk
G0 = G∞ + Gi ; K0 = K∞ + Ki
i=1 i=1

The kernel functions can be equivalently expressed as,


nG
t nk
t
G(t) = G0 [αG
∞+ αG
i exp(− G
)], K(t) = K 0 [αK
∞ + αK
i exp(− K )] (25)
i=1
τi i=1
τi

The integral function Equation(20) can recover the elastic behavior at the
limits of very slow and very fast load. Here, G0 and K0 are, respectively, the
shear and bulk moduli at the fast load limit (i.e. the instantaneous moduli), and
G∞ and K∞ are the moduli at the slow limit. The elasticity parameters input
correspond to those of the fast load limit. Moreover by admitting Equation(25),
the deviatoric and volumetric parts of the stress are assumed to follow different
relaxation behavior. The number of Prony terms for shear nG and for volumetric
behavior nK need not be the same nor do the relaxation times τiG and τiK .

3.2 Numerical Integration

To perform finite element analysis, the integral Equation(20) need to be inte-
grated. The integration scheme proposed by Taylor[7] and subsequently modified
1238 X. Zhang, S. Yang, and L. Chen

by Simo[8] is adapted. We will delineate the integration procedure for the de-
viatoric stress. The pressure response can be handled in an analogous way. To
integrate the deviatoric part of Equation(20), first, break the stress response into
components and write

nG
S = S∞ + Si (26)
i

where, s = deviatoric strees

S∞ = 2G∞ e

In addition,
 t
t − τ de
Si = 2Gi exp(− ) dτ (27)
0 τiG dτ
One should note that
 tn+1
tn+1 − τ de
(Si )n+1 = 2Gi exp(− ) dτ
0 τiG dτ
 tn
tn + Δt − τ de
= 2Gi exp(− ) dτ (28)
0 τiG dτ
 tn+1
tn+1 − τ de
+ 2Gi exp(− ) dτ
tn τiG dτ

where: Δt = tn+1 − tn .
The first term of Equation (28) is readily recognized as, exp(− τΔt
G )(Si )n
i
Using the middle point rule for time integration for the second term, a recur-
sive formula can be obtained as,

Δt Δt
(Si )n+1 = exp(− (Si )n ) + exp(− G )Gi Δe (29)
τiG 2τi

where, Δe = en+1 − en .

4 Numerical Examples

4.1 An Externally Reinforced Thick-Walled Cylinder Under

Internal Pressure

A very long thick-walled cylinder (Figure 1)with an internal radius of 2 inches

and an external radius of 4 inches is subjected to an internal pressure of 10
psi. The material is assumed to be isotropic and to be strictly elastic in dilata-
tionaI response, having a constant bulk modulus of 105 psi. The time-dependent
viscoelastic shear response is assumed to be represented by a simple Maxwell
rheological model. The initial shear modulus G0 = 0.375 × 105 psi. Thus we
 Finite Element Simulation of Viscoelastic Damping Materials 1239

obtain the values of v = 0.333 and E = 1.0 × 105 psi. the expression of time
dependent shear relaxation modulus is
t
G(t) = G0 exp(− ) = 0.375 × 105 exp(−t) (30)
τ1G

We have relaxation timeτ1G = 1.0.

A thin steel cylinder with an inner radius of 4in and thickness of 0.1212 in
is rigidly bonded to the outer surface of the viscoelastic cylinder. The Young’s
modulus for the steel casing is 30.0 × 106 and the Poisson’s ratio is 0.3015. It
is assumed that both cylinders are sufficienfly long so that the deformation is
considered to conform to the plane strain idealization with no axial motion.
We are interested in the time vary-
ing stresses within the inner viscoelas-
tic cylinder. The numerical results are
then compared to the closed form
solution.
A multi-step viscoelastic analysis
is accomplished. In this analysis a
time step of 0.1 second is sufficiently
small (that is one-tenth of the relax-
ation time) to accurately determine Fig. 1. Long Thick-Walled Cylinder
the transient response. In addition a
total time span or period of 10.0 sec-
onds (100 increments) is sufficient to reach approximately to the steady state
condition. This analysis is performed with a constant time step. This is done for
comparison of the numerical results with the closed form solution.
Exact solutions of radial and hoop stress distributions are plotted in Figure 2
and Figure 3 respectively[9,10]. The numerical results are also shown in these
figures. The agreement is excellent. Figure 2 shows the radial compression stress
at the outside surface increasing gradually from about half the internal pressure
to the full internal pressure for long durations of loading (compared with the

Fig. 2. Radial Stress vs. Time Fig. 3. Hoop Stress vs. Time
1240 X. Zhang, S. Yang, and L. Chen

relaxation time of the material in shear). This is associated with the relaxation
of the shear strength of the cylinder material according to its Maxwell behavior
while constrained by the reinforcement. The shear strength relaxes to zero. In
the limit the viscoelastic material behaves as a liquid under uniform hydrostatic
pressure (σr = σθ ) = σz ofmagnitude 10 psi the internally applied value. The
full internal pressure is finally transmitted to the reinforcement.

4.2 Cyclic Loading of a Rubber Block

A cube of rubber with dimension 0.1 × 0.1 × 0.1 is subjected to a sinusoidal
displacement controlled load function. Amplitudes are constant within a given
period and increase from one period
to the next. The mean load is zero
(completely reversed cycling) and the
constant amplitude for the first cy-
cle is given as A = 0.01. The subse-
quent constant load amplitudes sub-
jected to the block increase according
to A = 0.02 0.03 and A = 0.04. The
last value is associated to a maximum
compression and tension of 40 percent.
The elastic material parameter Ma-
terial Properties: basic elastic: E = Fig. 4. Rubber Block Model
422500, Ogden model 3 data point:
μi = 18.9×105, 3.6×103, −3×104; ai =
1.3, 5, −2. The constitutive parameters: for the Prony series the relative moduli
is αG
i = 1/3, 1/3, the relaxation time is: τ1 = 0.40 sec τ2 = 0.20 sec.
The analysis was performed using a single SOLID 185 element. The rubber
was simulated with an Ogden material model. The load was applied using a
looping application of the displacement boundary condition. The plot displays
the Cauchy stress evolution over the specified time periods. The accumulated
stress relaxes after the load is removed at t = 16 seconds. The accumulated
stress at t = 16 seconds and the relaxed stress state at t = 20 seconds are the
verified results for this test. the time integration was based on constant time
steps with Δt = 0.01s throughout the calculation.This time step was seen to
produce a converged solution.
In Figure 5 the numerical Cauchy stressσis plotted versus the strain, which
shows significant hysteresis loops as long as the applied displacements are in-
duced. Figure 6 depicts the computed Cauchy stress within a certain time do-
main. At time t = 16.0 s the load is completely removed and residual stresses
with value σ = 6.013 × 105 N/m2 remain in the specimen due to the ’delayed’
stress response. With the elapse of time,the stress in the block gradually dimin-
ishes (relaxes) as indicated in the figure.
 Finite Element Simulation of Viscoelastic Damping Materials 1241

Fig. 5. Stress vs. Strain Fig. 6. Stress vs.Time

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