APPLICATION OF FEA ON TEXTILE REINFORCED RUBBER STRUCTURES AS USED IN AIR SPRINGS

By applying FE analyses on different modeliing levels, the deformation behaviour of rolling lobe air springs was investigated. The shear deformations between two single reinforcement cords were modelled in a, micro' and, macro' model (discrete representation of textile cords in rubber). The mechanical behaviour of a whole air spring (in terms of outer geometry and force-displacement curves) was calculated using a global model: cord layers are treated as a superimposed unidirectional stiffness. Accompanying durability tests on a variety of air spring and tube shaped samples provide complementary data for an eventual correlation between the calculated (maximum) stress-strain states and the observed life times (and failure phenomena) of samples.