Multi-cycle deformation of silicone elastomer: observations and constitutive modeling with finite strains

Observations are reported on a medical grade of silicone elastomer in uniaxial tensile tests up to breakage of specimens, short-term relaxation tests, and cyclic tests with monotonically increasing maximum elongation ratios. Experimental data in cyclic tests demonstrate the fading memory phenomenon: stress–strain diagrams for two specimens with different deformation histories along the first n−1 cycles and coinciding loading programs for the other cycles become identical starting from the nth cycle. A constitutive model is developed in cyclic viscoplasticity of elastomers with finite strains, and its adjustable parameters are found by fitting the experimental data. Ability of the stress–strain relations to predict the mechanical response in cyclic tests with various deformation programs is confirmed by numerical simulation.