Experimental and modeling studies on contact mechanics of silicone rubbers

In this paper, the contact behavior of silicone rubbers under spherical and conical indenters is investigated by simulation and experiment. The accuracy and applicability of seven hyperelastic constitutive models are discussed for the contact behavior of silicone rubbers. The stress-strain curves obtained by uniaxial tension/compression experiments are used to fit parameters of hyperelastic constitutive models. Indentation experiments are carried out to compare with simulation results. The fitting accuracy of constitutive models under different strains is analyzed. It is found that the constitutive parameters fitted by the uniaxial compression experiments are the best for simulating the contact behavior of silicone rubbers.