US 7,472,602 B1
Determination of elastomer material properties for the Mullins effect using a bi-axial test device
William W Feng, Lafayette, Calif. (US); and John O. Hallquist, Livermore, Calif. (US)
Assigned to Livermore Software Technology Corporation, Livermore, Calif. (US)
Filed on May 08, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/746,039.
Int. Cl. G01N 3/10 (2006.01); G01D 1/16 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 73—789  [73/150 A; 73/840; 73/794; 73/37] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
11. A system for determining elastomer material properties including the Mullins effect under bi-axial tension comprising:
a bi-axial test device having an inflating fluid intake and an inflating fluid outlet;
a top plate having a round opening, the round opening having a substantially circular shape;
a bottom plate, wherein the inflating fluid intake and the inflating fluid outlet are operably coupling to the bottom plate; and
a plurality of connector means for coupling the top and bottom plate; wherein an elastomer specimen is configured to be sandwiched between the top and bottom plate;
a fluid reservoir, coupling to the inflating fluid intake, configured to store inflating fluids;
a pump, coupling to the fluid reservoir, configured to control the inflating fluids;
a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) configured to measure vertical displacement at the center of the elastomer membrane specimen placed in the bi-axial test device;
a pressure transducer, coupling to the inflating fluid outlet, configured to measure pressure of the inflating fluids; and
a computer, coupling to the LVDT and the pressure transducer, configured to gather and plot the measured pressure and vertical displacement throughout the bi-axial test.