Application of a computational and experimental method of analysis the complexly stressed state of rubber membranes for effective solutions for their production

The competitiveness of rubber membranes determined by their durability, quality, reliability, including the time required to create. During operation, the membranes undergo complex deformations, as a result of which a large number of potential destruction zones of a different nature arise, which can lead to the failure of the product. The standard test methods used in the development of formulations for membranes involve testing the material under uniaxial tension conditions in most cases and do not take into account the actual loading conditions of the product during operation, which significantly increases the development time of new formulations for membranes. The paper presents and applies in practice a computational and experimental method of analysis the complexly stressed state of rubber membranes, including carrying out simple laboratory tests in a heterogeneous complexly stressed state, which is realized during the operation of rubber membranes, and analyzing the stress-strain state by the finite element method. An inhomogeneous complexly stressed state was realized by forcing the rubber membrane with a spherical indenter. The application of a computational-experimental method for analyzing the complexly stressed state of rubber membranes is considered on the example of a rubber corrugated membrane of an automatic valve of a bag filter purge system. An assessment of the physical and mechanical properties of rubbers in a heterogeneous complexly stressed state was carried out, as well as an analysis of the stress-strain state of the membrane when it was loaded with a spherical indenter, which made it possible to identify the most dangerous zones of the section. The complex use of this method made it possible to improve the resource of this corrugated membrane by thirty five percent in comparison with the standard, while reducing the creation time.