Interfacial fatigue damage behavior of fiber reinforced rubber—A combined experimental and cohesive zone model approach

Abstract The interfacial damage behavior of short fiber reinforced rubber sealing composites (SRRC) under fatigue load is researched in this article, where an experimental and cohesive zone model approach are employed. The fiber mass fractions of samples are 2%, 5%, and 10%, respectively. The curves of the fatigue strain ( ε n ) varying with the fatigue cycle number ( n ) were obtained by the fatigue test. The damage patterns of SRRC with different fiber mass fractions were confirmed by scanning electron microscope. A finite element model (FEM) was established to predict interfacial fatigue damage, where the cohesive element was imbedded in the interface between fiber and matrix. The results show that the ε n ‐ n curves of SRRC predicted by FEM agree well with experimental data when fiber mass fractions are high. The samples with 5% fiber mass fraction are optimal to restrain the origination of the interfacial abhesion, and a possible damage path of SRRC is obtained.