Void growth and cavitation in nonlinear viscoelastic solids

This paper discusses the growth of a pre-existing void in a nonlinear viscoelastic material subjected to remote hydrostatic tensions with different loading rates. The constitutive relation of this viscoelastic material is the one recently proposed by the present authors, which may be considered as a generalization of the non-Gaussian statistical theory in rubber elasticity. As the first order approximation, the above constitutive relation can be reduced to the "neo-Hookean" type viscoelastic one. Investigations of the influences of the material viscosity and the loading rate on the void growth, or on the cavitation are carried out. It is found that: (1) for generalized "inverse Langevin approximation" nonlinear viscoelastic materials, the cavitation limit does not exist, but there is a certain (remote) stress level at which the void will grow rapidly; (2) for generalized "Gaussian statistics" (neo-Hookean type) viscoelastic materials, the cavitation limit exists, and is an increasing function of the loading rate. The present discussions may be of importance in understanding the material failure process under high triaxial stress.