Direct Comparison of Some Recent Rubber Elasticity Models

Abstract The paper compares the Arruda—Boyce model, the van der Waals model and the Reduced Polynomial model—a generic class of polynomial models of which Yeoh's cubic model is a special case—in their ability to predict multiaxial deformation states on the basis of uniaxial measurements. These models are reviewed in the light of novel experimental data, giving ample space to the derivation of the equations needed for optimization of the material parameters. The technological relevance of these findings is exemplified in the finite element analysis (FEA) of a complex membrane.