International Journal of Material Science Vol. 2 Iss.

4, December 2012
119
Modeling of Large Deformations of
Hyperelastic Materials
E. Boudaia
#1
, L. Bousshine
*2

#
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology,
BP 523, Mghrila, 23000 Bni Mellal, Morocco
*
Laboratoire des Technologi es de Constructions et des Systmes Industriels, ENSEM,
BP 8118, Oasis, Casablanca, Morocco
1
boudelhassan@yahoo.fr,
2
lbousshine@ yahoo.fr

Abstract
The elastomer properties (large deformations, damping)
make their use more and more common in industries such as
aerospace, automotive, construction and civil engineering or
even the entertainment industry... Modeling the behavior of
such materials is highly nonlinear, the nonlinearities are
both geometric (due to large deformations imposed) and
behavioral (behavior laws used are nonlinear). This paper
presents a detailed description of the numerical implemen-
tation of incompressible isotropic hyperelastic behavior. In
this study, the analysis of large deformation problems of
Ogdens hyperelastic is based on the finite element method
(FEM) and mathematical programming. To solve the
problem of balance, we suggest using the combined
Newton-Raphson/Arc-length procedure. A typical example
is presented to illustrate the performance of this formulation.
Keywords
Elastomers; Hyperelasticity; Large Strain; FEM; Newton-Raphson
Algorithm; Arc-Length Scheme
I nt r oduc t i on
The theoretical studies of hyperelastic materials have
mobilized many researchers for decades; see eg the
work of Treloar [1], Gent [2] and Frakley [3]. However,
the first important works were proposed by Mooney
[4] and Rivlin [5]. Valani and al. [6] proposed to write
the strain energy in a form separated following the
main directions. This led to the widely used model of
Ogden [7, 8]. Recently, different models have been
developed for hyperelastic materials especially in
biomechanics (Zulliger and al. [9]).
The obj ective of this paper is to present the model
most widely used hyperelastic behavior and in
particular the isotropic model. To do this, the di fferent
results of basic mechanics of the maj or changes are
outlined in the first place. Are recalled and the various
tensor quantities used in the modeling of continuous
medium and medium formulation based on isotropic
hyperelastic tensor structure. In a second step, the
most widely used hyperelastic potential is exposed.
Desc r i pt i on of Lar ge St r a i ns
Elastomers, with hyperelastic behavior, usually work
in large strains. Note x

and X

positions vectors of a
particle P of a deformable body in the current
configuration (where the solid occupies the volume)
and initial (where the solid occupies the volume
0
).
We will use the same reference
1 2 3
(o,e,e ,e )

for the
initial configuration C0 given at time t0 and deformed
configuration Ct at time t (Fig.1).

FIG. 1 INITIAL AND DEFORMED CONFIGURATIONS
For a Lagrangian description, the movement of the
body can be defined relative to a reference
configuration C0, by a vector function:
0
:
( , ).
t
C C
X x X t

(1)
By introducing the displacement vector u

and we
write the equation (1) in the equivalent form:
( , ). x X u X t = +


(2)
Order to describe the geometric transformations
associated with these large strains, we introduce the
deformation gradient tensor F defined by:
International Journal of Material Science Vol. 2 Iss. 4, December 2012
120
i i i
ij ij
j j j
X t x u
F X t
X X X

= = = +

( , )
( , ) , (3)
Where
ij
denotes the Kronecker symbol.
Or equation (3) can be written in matrix form:
, F I u = + (4)
Where
I is the unit tensor,
is the gradient tensor of displacements.
Due to the large displacements and large rotations, the
strain tensor of Green-Lagrange E was adopted to
describe the nonlinear relationship between the
deformation and displacement:
1
( ),
2
E C I = (5)
Where
T
C F F = is the strain tensor of Cauchy-Green right.
In the case of a hyperelastic law, there is a strain
energy density W which depends on one of the strain
tensor and whose derivative gives the second stress
tensor of Piola-Kirchhoff S:
2 .
ij
ij ij
W W
S
E C

= =

(6)
In the particular case of isotropic hyperelasticity [10],
equation (6) can be written as follows:
1
3 1
3 1 2 2
2 ,
W W W W
S I C I C
I I I I

( | |
= + +
( |

( \ .
(7)
Where
i
I (i = 1, 2, 3) are the invariants of the Cauchy-Green
tensor on the right, C, such as:
2 2
1 2 1 3
1
( ) ; ( ) and det( ),
2
I tr C I I tr C I C ( = = =

(8)
Where
tr() and det() indicate, respectively, the trace and
the determinant of a tensor.
Note that S has no physical meaning but it is
symmetric and purely Lagrangian, and from which
one can determine the expression of the Cauchy
tensor :
1
.
det( )
T
FSF
F
=
(9)
For the Ogden model [7] for incompressible materials,
the energy density is expressed in terms of
eigenvalues ( 1, 2, 3)
j
j = of the Cauchy-Green tensor
right by:
( )
1 2 3 1 2 3
( , , ) 3 ,
k k k
m
k
k
k
W

= + +

(10)
where the constants are the material parameters and m
is the total strain energy terms.
We recall that the incompressibility of the material
results in
1 2 3
det( ) 1 ou 1. F = = Hence, the energy
density can be expressed only by
1
and
2
:
1 2 3 1 2
1 2
1
( , , ) 3 .
k k
k k
m
k
k
k
W

| |
= + +
|
\ .

(11)
Var i at i onal For mul at i on
Solving the problem balance of incompressible hyper-
elastic is reduced to problem of minimizing the
functional :
( )
( , ) . ( ) . .
,

( ).
t
u
Min u S S E u f u d t ud
Conditions of incompressibility
Subject to
Boundary conditions u u on

(
=
(

=


(12)
Where
is an isotropic structure, subject to surface
forces t on the surface
t
,
f is the gravity forces,
u is displacements imposed on the surface
u
.
The nonlinear equations (12) are solved numerically
with the finite element method whose the approxi-
mation of the displacement field is defined by the
relation:
(x) (x) with ( (x)) , u N U N U = = (13)
Where
x x, y, z =< > are the nodal coordinates,
N(x) is the shape functions matrix,
U is the vector of unknown nodal displacements.
Therefore, the functional takes the discretized form
as follows:
International Journal of Material Science Vol. 2 Iss. 4, December 2012
121
( )
( ) . ( . ) . . . . .
t
T T
U S E NU N f U d N t Ud

=

(14)
Thus, the discrete system (14) can be solved iteratively
by using the combined Newton-Raphson/Arc-length
procedure (see [11] for details on the implementation
of this method in the context finite element).
Numer i c al Ex ampl e
In this example, we consider a plate with a central
circular hole in the stress plane and tension is sought
under a constant displacement up to 100% elongation.
Geometry (L D = 25.4 14.24 cm) with a unit
thickness is shown in Fig. 2. For more details see
reference [12]. Due to symmetry of geometry, only one
quarter of the plate is modeled, as shown below.

FIG. 2 GEOMETRY AND LOADING (LEFT) AND BOUNDARY
CONDITIONS WITH MESHES (528 ELEMENTS T3) (RIGHT)


FIG. 3 DEFORMATION ALONG THE X AXIS (TOP) AND ALONG
THE Y AXIS (BELOW).


FIG. 4 ISOVALUES OF STRESS ALONG THE X AXIS (TOP) AND
ALONG THE Y AXIS (BELOW).
Conc l usi ons
A computational method by using the mathematical
programming and the analysis approach hyperelastic
is developed here to investigate the large deformation.
A finite element model in conj unction with the
combined Newton - Raphson / Arc - length procedure
was adopted allowing investigating interesting
applications. The obtained results illustrate the
effectiveness of our approach developed.
This work can be extended in the future by taking into
account other parameters as frictional contact with
heat transfer.
REFERENCES
[1] L. R. G. Treloar, The Physics of Rubber Elasticity. 3rd
edition, Oxford university press, 1975.
[2] N. Gent, Rubber and Rubber Elasticity, a Review.
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pp. 117, 1974.
[3] P. K. Frakley and A. R. Payne, Theory and Practice of
Enginnering with Rubber. Applied Science Publishers,
London, 1978.
[4] M. Mooney, A Theory of Large Elastic Deformations.
Journal of Applied Mechanics, vol. 11, pp. 582592, 1940.
International Journal of Material Science Vol. 2 Iss. 4, December 2012
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[5] R. S. Rivlin, Large elastic Deformations of Isotropic
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theory, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
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[11] E. S. Neto, D. Peri and D. R. J. Owen, Computational
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[12] E. A. Neto De Souza. Perlc Djordje and D. R. J. Owen,
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El Hassan Boudaia is an associate Professor at the
Mechanical Engineering Department of Faculty of Science
and Technology of Beni Mellal, Morocco. His Ph.D thesis in
2007 was on the subject of a meshless and finite element
methods analysis for elasto-plastic contact problems with
friction. His current research activities are multidisciplinary
and focus mainly on design approaches and reliability
analysis, especially in structural engineering. Using the
elasto-plastic analysis and the meshless or the finite element
method, he has published with his coworkers many works
on the reliability assessment of structures, especially in the
non-associated elasto-plasticity area.