Determination of a Rubber-Like Material Model as an Inverse Problem

The purpose of this paper is to describe the selection process of a rubber-like material model useful for simulation behaviour of an inflatable air cushion under multi-axial stress states. The air cushion is a part of a single segment of a pontoon bridge. The air cushion is constructed of a polyester fabric reinforced membrane such as Hypalon (R). From a numerical point of view such a composite type poses a challenge since numerical ill-conditioning can occur due to stiffness differences between rubber and fabric. Due to the analysis of the large deformation dynamic response of the structure, the LS-Dyna code is used. Since LS-Dyna contains more than two-hundred constitutive models the inverse method is used to determine parameters characterizing the material on the base of results of the experimental test.