Experimental and numerical investigation on single specimen methods of determination of J in rubber materials

In this paper, we have verified the validity of some formulations allowing the determination of the fracture surface energy in the case of rubber-like materials. The J-integral is chosen as a fracture characterizing parameter which is experimentally determined by considering a multiplying form that; numerically evaluated using a finite element method. The numerical results are compared to the experimental data and a good agreement has been pointed out for the deeply cracked specimen (a/w greater than or equal to 0.5). Below this limit, a significant divergence is observed which is attributed to a lack of accuracy of the experimental data processing.