A NONLINEAR FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF HORIZONTAL ELASTOMERICS OF REVOLUTION

A nonlinear composite finite element analysis of layered elastomeric, initially flat, solids of revolution is presented. The analysis has mu ch lower computational cost compared to discrete or three-dimensional composite analyses. The nonlinearities of the presented theory include large displacements of stiff layers and large displacements and defor mations of flexible layers along with the nonlinear material behavior of flexible layers. The finite element technique is; based on the mini mum potential energy concept and the Newton-Raphson method is used to solve the resulting nonlinear equation. After the verification of the thoery, a parameter study involving the ratio between the thickness of stiff and flexible layers is presented.