Prediction of the service life or fatigue durability of elastomer structures

Elastomeric structures subjected to fluctuating loads can fail due to the nucleation and growth of cracks. To prevent such failures requires understanding of the physics underlying fatigue failure, approaches for characterizing material behavior, and methods for evaluating the effects of a given duty cycle. Duty cycles can be complex, often involving simultaneous loading in multiple directions, and nonperiodic variations of the load. By considering how the loads applied to a structure are transformed into the experiences of individual cracks, a rational framework for predicting fatigue life can be developed.