A micromechanics model for predicting the stress–strain relations of filled elastomers

In this paper, a simple micromechanics model has been developed for predicting the effective stress–strain relations of filled elastomers. The present model constitutes of the instantaneous Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio characterizing rubber-like material, a double-inclusion configuration taking account of the absorption of rubber chains onto carbon-black (CB) particles, and the incremental Mori–Tanaka method to compute the effective stress–strain curves. The subsequent predictions are capable of reflecting the well-known S-shape of hyper-elastic composites, and verified via the comparison to the available experiments and analytical models. Parametric analysis is fatherly conducted on the microstructure effect.

► A simple analytical model is proposed to for the filled elastomers.
► A double-inclusion model is employed for the absorption of rubber chains.
► Parametric analysis is conducted on the microstructure effect.