Fatigue damage properties of rubber composites

The fatigue damage properties of [0°] single-ply and [±20°] double-ply rubber composite under T-T loading were studied. The results show that the variation of the cycle strain of both kinds of material in the fatigue process exhibits three stages which are corresponding to damage initiation, steady damage propagation and catastrophic failure. The fatigue damage is controlled by cord properties for the single-ply rubber composites and by matrix properties for the double-ply rubber composite respectively. The logarithmic fatigue life expressed by maximum stress follows a linear trend. The hysteretic loss keeps constant until the end of the fatigue life. The difference between hysteretic loss and the thermal conductivity results in a difference in the surface temperature between different specimens.