Deflection Prediction of an Anti-vibration Mount by Finite Element Analysis

To ensure the safety and dependability of rubber components, deflection analysis and prediction play a crucial role in process of design.Material property testing and finite element analysis (FEA) are combined to forecast the maximum deflection of a railway elastomeric pad.IRMRA (Indian Rubber Manufacturer's Research Association) developed the chloroprene rubber.Using the FEA method, maximum deflections of an anti-vibration mount under several compressive loads are calculated.Mooney-Rivlin nonlinear hyperelastic three parameter model with element type Plane 182 is used for and FEA.Curve fitting of the uniaxial tensile test results is used to extract three parameter Mooney-Rivlin model constants by using FEA.Then, these Mooney-Rivlin model constants are used to analyze anti-vibration mount and predict the deflections at different compressive loads.The outcomes are contrasted with the technical specifications provided by the Research Designs and Standards Organization of Indian Railway and predicted deflections are within the limits of maximum values allowed.The results are also contrasted with data from literature, and 10% variation is observed between results obtained and literature results.This methodology can be used to predict deflections of any newly developed rubber at initial stage of design.