An RVE-based investigation of thermoplastic vulcanizates exemplified by EPDM/PP

Abstract

In this contribution, the material behaviour of thermoplastic vulcanizate is investigated using the example of ethylenepropylene- diene monomer rubber (EPDM) and polypropylene (PP). For modelling of viscoelastic effects, the generalized Maxwell element is applied, whereby the isochoric stresses of parallel Maxwell elements are determined via evolution equations. In order to take the morphological composition of TPV into account, a representative volume element (RVE) consisting of PP as matrix and EPDM as included material is considered. In a following numerical example, a cyclic shear test is presented, where the resulting force and stress distribution is evaluated. Thus, the results show the macroscopic material behaviour under the consideration of microstructure.