Experimental study and numerical simulation of cutting and tearing of silicone rubber using Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM)

Failure of soft materials is a fundamental challenge due to the strongly nonlinear and dissipative deformation involved. An experimental and extended finite element study of dynamic crack in silicone rubber are investigated. Hence, material preparation procedures, details of sample as well as testing apparatus which have been used for cutting, pure shear tests are presented. First, the rate of energy restitution and an instantaneous propagation speed were achieved. The crack propagation speed / energy release rate relationships are given for the different strain rates. second, an analysis of the mechanical fields and stress state in the fracture process zone is proposed. Finally, cutting force evolution according to stretches is established. Then, an energy-based approach was introduced. Results show that the cutting force and the total cutting energy decreases significantly with increasing deformation rate.