Modelling of Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Elastomer for Simulation of Belt Welding Process

Key findings from this study

• The study found that second-order polynomial, third-order Ogden, and fourth-order Ogden models adequately represent the elastomer's stress-strain behaviour in static tensile loading.
• The authors report that strain rate significantly influences the material's mechanical response, indicating that purely hyperelastic models lack sufficient sophistication for plasticisation simulation.
• The researchers demonstrate that viscoelastic constitutive formulation is necessary to accurately model deformation dynamics during belt welding.

Overview

The study addresses optimisation of hot plate welding for thermoplastic elastomer belts through modelling of mechanical properties. Polyurethane-based thermoplastic elastomer exhibits complex deformation behaviour under temperature and compressive loading during plasticisation. Numerical simulation of this process requires appropriate constitutive material models. The researchers combined static tensile testing with finite element analysis to identify suitable hyperelastic formulations.

Methods and approach

Static tensile tests characterised stress-strain behaviour of the elastomer material. Six hyperelastic models were evaluated: Mooney-Rivlin, Ogden, Neo-Hooke, Yeoh, Arruda-Boyce, and Marlow. Finite element simulations mapped experimental tensile test results against each hyperelastic formulation. Strain rate sensitivity was assessed through additional experimental testing. Model convergence between numerical predictions and experimental measurements determined selection of candidate formulations.

Results

Three hyperelastic models demonstrated acceptable convergence with experimental data: second-order polynomial, third-order Ogden, and fourth-order Ogden. Experimental evidence revealed significant strain rate dependence of stress-strain characteristics. The material exhibits viscoelastic behaviour requiring rate-dependent constitutive modelling. Current hyperelastic models alone proved insufficient to capture deformation dynamics observed during physical testing.

Implications

These findings enable more accurate numerical representation of belt plasticisation mechanics during hot plate welding. Incorporation of viscoelastic effects into the constitutive model will refine predictions of material behaviour under the transient thermal and mechanical loading conditions characteristic of the welding process. Enhanced simulation accuracy supports optimisation of process parameters for energy efficiency gains.
The validated hyperelastic formulations provide a foundation for subsequent numerical optimisation studies. Strain rate sensitivity quantification establishes the necessity for rate-dependent material models in future refinements. Integration of viscoelasticity addresses a known limitation in existing hyperelastic approaches for this elastomer class.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.