ON THE MECHANICS OF RUBBER-TO-METAL BOND FAILURE

In many applications rubber is bonded to metal for fixing purposes or to alter the stiffness. Integrity of the bond is often vital to mainta in the required stiffness characteristics and ensure adequate life. Th e mechanics of bond failure is being studied for various types of defo rmation. Provided tests are carried out under suitable loading conditi ons, time-dependent failure with a similar locus has been observed in peeling at 90 degrees or 180 degrees, pure shear and various combinati ons of simple shear and compression. There are indications that an ene rgetics approach can enable results from different geometries to be qu antitatively interrelated. Cavitation-like processes observed in the r ubber in the bond region are believed to result from the constraint im posed by the metal and may be the cause of the time-dependent failure.