STIFFNESS CHARACTERISTICS OF

RUBBER IMPACT ABSORBERS

E. A. BAKIRZIS The Natural Rubber Producers Research Association, Welwyn Garden City,
Herts.

Classical elasticity theory, together with a knowledge of the behaviour of solid-rubber pads under compression,
is employed to predict the force-deflection characteristics of hollow rubber units used as impact absorbers.
Various parameters are predicted theoretically and agreement with theory is found to be satisfactory for a wide
range of shapes and ratios of cross-sectional dimensions.

INTRODUCTION N Normal force.

THEMAJORITY of impact-absorbing devices are nowadays P Load.
made of a resilient material and they are designed so as to R Average radius.
produce large deflections at relatively low material S Shape factor defined in text.
stresses. The capacity to absorb energy can be calculated S Length of curve.
from a knowledge of the force-deflection curve and classi- t Thickness of testpiece.
cal elasticity theory can often be successfully employed to U Strain energy of deformation.
achieve this provided the deflections are small. Shock- V Shearing force.
absorbing devices, however, often include large deforma- W Ratio (D- d ) / ( D d ) . +
tions and in calculating the stiffness it is necessary to 01 A constant depending on shape of cross-section.
consider the change in shape with deformation of the B Ratio HIP.
resilient material (I)*. r Various functions of w defined in text.
Impact absorbers, such as dock fenders, are often 6 Deflection.
hollow sections which involve considerable bending and x Compression ratio (= 1 -e).
hence large deformations under relatively small forces. V Poissons ratio.
When the holes close up the units behave as if they were U Stress.
solid and become considerably stiffer. This paper con- ucr Stress at buckling.
siders the behaviour of some simple shapes which are c Angle.
widely used in practical applications, namely long hollow b
circular sections, half-cylindrical sections, and D sections, Subscripts
all of which are radially compressed, and rectangular hollow 1 Denotes state of rubber at large deformations.
sections and hollow cylinders that are axially compressed.
c, D > Specify functions of w denoted by r.
Notation
A Undeformed cross-sectional area. Effective modulus
b Breadth of rectangle, side of square. Rubber is often employed as a resilient material and be-
D,d Outer and inner diameters of a cylinder. cause it is virtually incompressible the volume does not
E Effective Youngs modulus. alter with deformation. This can lead to greater effects of
EO Youngs modulus in tension. shape than in other more compressible materials. Any-
e Strain (= x / t ) . thing that prevents the rubber from compressing freely
eor Strain at buckling. tends to give a compression modulus greater than Youngs
G Shear modulus. modulus. For example, from classical elasticity theory the
g A constant, I/AR2. effective modulus of compression E of an infinitely long
H Horizontal reaction. strip compressed between lubricated platens is
h Wall thickness of hollow cylinders.
I Second moment of area of cross-section. E = - EO . . . . (1)
(1-VZ)
K Stiffness.
k A numerical constant depending on the rubber where Eo is Youngs modulus in tension and Y is Poissons
hardness. ratio. A more pronounced effect of shape occurs with the
L Length of cylinder, etc. compression of a solid pad bonded to metal plates. The
M,M O Bending moment. effective modulus for a circular rubber disc is (2):

The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution of Mechanical

E = Eo(1+2kS2) . * (2) .
Engineers on 7th December 1970 and accepted for publication on where S is termed the shape factor and equals one loaded
12thJuly 1971. 33
References are given in Appendix 3. area over the total force-free area and k is an empirical

JOURNAL O F STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 7 NO I I972 33

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 E. A. BAKIRZIS

constant which depends on the hardness of the rubber I?

(3). For a circular disc S = D/4t, where D is the diameter
and t the thickness. Equation ( 2 ) also applies to a rect-
angle with S = Lb/2t(L+b), where L is the length and b
the breadth of the pad, provided L is not very different
to b. For other shapes S can be calculated from the defini-
tion of shape factor. For an incompressible material
v = 0.5 and the shear modulus G = E0/3. For the pur-
pose of this paper it is a sufficiently close approximation
to assume that the natural-rubber gum vulcanizate used
is incompressible and that G = E0/3; however, for
rubbers containing large proportions of filler G N E0/4
(3).
Test method
All tests were carried out between rigid steel plates on the
1000 kg range of a Denison Universal testing machine
which indicates the load, the deflection being read with a
?2
dial gauge. The loading plates are constrained to remain
parallel and concentric. Bonding to steel plates was neces- Fig. I . Forces and bending moments acting at section of thick
sary in most cases, friction not being sufficient to prevent ring
slipping. The composition of the vulcanizate used in all
tests is given in Appendix 1. This vulcanizate gives a the section plane-strain conditions exist and equation ( 1 )
value of k = 0.78. For rubbers of different hardnesses k applies. From Fig. 1
can be otained from (3). For long testpieces Eo was ob-
tained from axial-compression tests, the shape factor P
M = Mo-- R(1-cos +)]
being negligibly small. For shorter testpieces Eo was 2
obtained from tensile tests performed on strips cut from P
the specimens. N = - cos
2
+
P
CIRCULAR S E C T I O N S V = - sin 4
2
A number of geometrically simple structures are made
in the form of rings and loops. Expressions for the load- M, is obtained from the condition that section mn does
deformation behaviour of thin sections have been derived not rotate during deformation and hence
by considering the bending moment M that exists at any
cross-section (Fig. 1). For thick sections, in additon to the
bending moment M, shearing forcesq and normal forces Substituting equation (5) into equation ( 3 ) and using
N have to be considered. The deflections can then be equation (6) we obtain
calculated by the use of Castigliano's theorem. The strain
energy of deformation is given by (4): M o= P R ( g - t + i )
u = J;{K+("l-"")+E}* (3) where w = (D-d)/(D+d)
2EI 2AE AER 2AG
Hence from equations (3) and (4) the deflection S is
and hence the deflection S under a direct load P by D
au
s = -ar . . . . . (4)
where
where R is the average radius of the section, A the cross-
sectional area, s the length of the curved bar, Q a constant = (9rr2-72)/32rrw3+{48+(12c(-33)rr2}/32rrW--w/4a
which takes into account the non-uniform distribution of . . * (7)
shearing stresses over the cross-section (1.5 for a rect- The stiffness K, in a dimensionless form, is
angular section), and I &e second moment of area of the
cross-section about the neutral axis. The above formula
ignores the fact that the stresses due to bending are not
linearly distributed, as in straight bars, but follow a and is a function only of Dld, the diametral ratio. Equation
hyperbolic law. When calculating deflections, however, the (8) is plotted in Fig. 2 with Q = 1.5. A detailed derivation
error is small for thin sections while for thicker sections of the equations for M, and S is given in Appendix 2.
most of the deflection is due to the shearing force V and Two sets of cylinders were tested with lengths approxi-
the overall error remains small. mately the same as and six times greater than the outer
diameter. Details of dimensions are given in Table 1 .
Radial compression of long hollow circular The curves obtained for type A cylinders are shown in
cylinders Fig. 3. For D / d not exceeding about 2 a bilinear charac-
When the cylinder is long compared to the thickness of teristic is obtained, except that for D / d = 1.34 there was

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 STIFFNESS CHARACTERISTICS OF RUBBER IMPACT ABSORBERS

When the compressions exceed d it is assumed that the

cylinder is squashed to a pad of width ~ r ( D + d ) / 4and
thickness ( D - d ) . The stiffness K,,when the length is
03
much greater than the width and no slipping occurs
between the loading platens, is given by (2):
4 A1
YO2 K 1 = - E O - ( l + k S l 2 ) . . . (9)
t;;r 3 tl

1 I/ I I I where the s u e 1 refers to the state of the rubber under

large compressions. From the definition of shape factor
TrL(D+d)- T
s1 = 8 L ( D - d ) - 8w

D/d and
Fig. 2. Stiffness of radially compressed cylindrical units Substituting these in equation (9) gives

K , = Y3w
EoL -( "64w2k n 2 ) ' * . (10)

Theoretical values, equation (lo), and experimental

results appear in Table 2. Good agreement is obtained
between the two, provided Dld does not exceed about
2-5. For the thicker cylinders the loaded area is over-
estimated and the formula becomes inaccurate. When the
centre hole is small the cylinder behaves as if solid and
formulae exist which deal with this case (I). Type B
cylinders can be similarly treated but, since the width is
about the same as the length, equation (9) assumes a dif-
ferent form and an example is given below. Most energy
absorbers of this type are made with D / d = 2 and their
length is not less than D .
did
Fig. 3. Load-dejection curves of radially compressed Radial compression of half-cylindrical and
cylindrical units D sections
a slightly concave characteristic near the origin. This From Fig. 4a, proceeding as before, we obtain
cannot be seen on the graph because of the scale chosen. PR
Type B cylinders gave similar results. The experimental
values of the stiffness obtained at the origin for all
cylinders tested are shown in Fig. 2. Agreement is good,
M = M o - y (1-cos q5)+HR sin q5
P
1
N=-cos$+Hsin+
even for ratios of D/d as high as about 8. 2
P
Table I . Dimensions of cylinders under radial compression V = -sinq5+Hcosq5
2
where H is the horizontal reaction at the clamped edges.
Type A L = 15 cm, D = 2.54 cm The conditions for the edges not to rotate or deflect are
Dld 1.34, 1.65, 2.04,2.76,4.1,8.4
l
respectively
Type B I L = 4.8 cm, D = 4.9 cm
Dld 1.33, 1.43, 1.59, 1.82,2.07,2.6,4.1 au
-=o,
au
-8=Ho . . . (12)
I
aM0

1 Theoretical
-Experimental
1.4
1.65
2.04
2.76
39.5
12
6.3
3.8
1
I
39.0
11.7
6.5
3.3
i 1.33
1.43
1.59
1.82
1 132
78
44.3
27
110
68
41
255
1'33
1.43
1.59
1.82
1 21.2
13.7
8.7
6.0
~
22
12.3
9.4
6.3
4.1
8.4
2.5
1.7 I 0.98
19.4
13.0
8.4 1
18.0
11.4
4.3
1
I
2.07
2.6
4.1
4.7
3.6
2.6
~
3.2
3.0
1.08
I

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 E. A. BAKIRZIS

A:
0.75-r

H - ---- ---

+Half-cylindrical sections
0 25 O D sections
Fig. 4a. Half-cylindrical section

Fig. 5. Stiffness of half-cylindrical and D sections

Equation (18) is also plotted in Fig. 5. It has been as-

sumed that the conditions at the edges of the semicircular
section remain the same as for the built-in ends and do
not alter because of the elastic supports.
Fig. 4b. D section
Tests were carried out on half-cylindrical sections with
the base bonded to metal plates. The dimensions are the
By substitution of equation (11) into (3) and use of
.same as those of the Type B cylinders (Table 1). D sections
equations (12) H and M oare obtained (see Appendix 2 for
were made by bonding half-cylindrical sections to rubber
derivation):
pads of appropriate thickness and plan dimensions. The
PR experimental load-deformation curves are plotted in
M o= - {(1+2,3)~~+3~-3-6,3} . (13)
3T , Figs 6 and 7. For D sections the curves are linear if D / d is
H=PP . . . . . . * (14) . less than about 2 and the deflection does not exceed d/2.
For the half-cylindrical sections the linearity is confined
where
to smaller deflections. For the thinner units the stiffness

' 4w4+(1 2 ~ ~ + 3 ~ - 2 4 ) ~ ~ + ( 3 6 - 9 ~ )
= -8w4 +(12a7r2-3v2 +48)w2 +(9m2- 72)
and is a function only of w for a given section. The de-
becomes linear again at high loads if D / d is less than 2.
The experimental values of the initial linear stiffness
appear in Fig. 5. Agreement with theory is good provided
flection 8' under the load P is obtained by the same D / d is less than about 2.5. For thicker units the mechanism
method as for the cylindrical sections and is derived in of deformation differs from that assumed above. If, how-
Appendix 2, The stiffness then becomes ever, the experimental values of stiffness for the half-
cylindrical sections are used with equation (17) the correct
values of stiffness for D sections are obtained for all values
of the ratio Dld covered.
where At large deflections, when a unit has been squashed
r,9 = t(l+2,32)r,+(,32$2,3)rc-,3rD * * * (16) flat, its stiffness is that of a pad of width r D / 2 and length
L, the thickness tl for half-cylindrical sections being
r, = (9n2-72)/32w3+w/~
I'D +
= ( 9 -~18)/16w3 [ 3 ~ (+4~t
2 - -24]/8~w+W/T
and FA is given by equation (7).
Equation (15) is plotted in Fig. 5.
The stiffness of D-section units, Fig. 4b, is assumed to
be due to the stiffness of the half-cylindrical section
treated above and the stiffness of the portion of the
rectangular pad loaded by the top section. For this portion
of the pad (shown shaded in Fig. 4b) equation (9) is
applicable and since the width equals the thickness the
shape factor S = 3. With K = 0.78 the stiffness Kp due
to the pad alone is
K P 8
-=-(1+K/4) = 3.2 (17) . .
E,L 3
The total stiffness, KDis the sum of the two stiffnesses in
series, namely
Fig. 6. Experimental load-deflection curves of
half-cylindrical sections

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 STIFFNESS CHARACTERISTICS OF RUBBER IMPACT ABSORBERS

SQUARE HOLLOW TUBES

A typical section is shown in Fig. 8. For the purposes of
analysis it is assumed that the centre hole is also square
and that the load is carried by the two shaded columns.
Provided the length is much greater than b, equation (9)
applies and

-A= ( l - % ) L , s- ( 1 -d/b)
t - 2(l+d/b)
where b is the length of the side of the square and d the
diameter of the hole. Substitution in equation (9) gives:

If the centre hole is small the material behaves as if it were

of solid section and S = 3. Hence
Zdld
K 4
-- - ( l +k/4)
Fig. 7. Experimental load-deflection curves of D sections EoL * ' - (21)
The two equations are plotted in Fig. 9 with k = 0.78.
( D - d ) / 2 and for D sections ( D - d ) . Since, however, the Tests were performed on cylinders with the dimensions
pad is rectangular, equation (2) applies and ( 2 ) : given in Table 3. Non-dimensional plots of load against
deflection are given in Fig. 10. The three thinnest units
K, = E 0 A ,
- ( 1 + 2 k S , 2 ) . . . (19) exhibited instability of the side walls at the relative com-
tl pressions ecr given in Table 3. The rest of the cylinders
where A, is the loaded area and S, the shape factor. showed a linear characteristic up to S = J with a rising
Hence, from the definition of shape factor, for the half- slope for larger deflections. Values of K / E o L were ob-
cylindrical sections tained from the linear portion of the curves and are
shown in Fig. 10. They agree with equation (21), for
A , = -YaDL +a)
s,= - small d/b and with equation (20) for high d/b. It has not
2 (l-d/D) been possible to predict the strain at buckling for the
thinner units or the stiffness for compressions 6/d > 1.
and for D sections
aDL
A, = -
a/(4 277) + HOLLOW C Y L I N D E R S I N AXIAL
2 ' " = (1-d/D) COMPRESSION
In the expression for the shape factor it has been assumed The critical stress ucpduring buckling of a cylindrical shell
for simplicity that L = D (see Table 1). Substituting the
above expressions in turn in equation (19) gives the stiff-
ness. Theoretical values for both types of section, to-
gether with experimental results, appear in Table 2.
Agreement is good, provided the values of K,are obtained

I_
from the linear portion of the curve beyond 6 = d/2 and
D/d < 2.5. If the deflection exceeds about O.lt, in value
the curve is no longer linear (see Figs 6 and 7) and Eo in
expression (19) must be replaced by E0(h-2-h)/3y
where h = 1-86/tl ( 2 ) .

lp
1

I0

d/b

Fig. 9. Stiffness of square hollow tubes

Table 3. Dimensions of square hollow tubes

Length 13.1 cm
Breadth 2.5 an
bld 1.31, 159, 1.96, 2.74, 3.91,7.82
Shaded area is shape assumed for the rubber carrying load P. eor = 6,,1b 0.08,0.16,0.28
Fig. 8. Section of square hollow tube

JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 7 NO I 1972 37

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 E. A. BAKIRZIS

40 -
D/d=2 6

2 07
I 82
30
I59

.
N

c
* 20
1
/
I43

I
b

10 i
SYJ ---_
_..
I
I34
I
Od 0 25 0 50 0 75 10

Fig. 10. Experimental load-deflection curves of square

hollow tubes

into a large number of waves subjected to compressive Cylinders of Type B, whose dimensions are given in
forces is given by ( 5 ) : Table 1, were tested in such a way that no slipping oc-
curred between the steel plates. Stress-strain curves
based on the undeformed dimensions of the cylinders are
plotted in Fig. 12. The large number of waves into which
where Eo is Young's modulus for the material, h the wall the shell is assumed to buckle were not apparent. The
thickness, and R the average radius of the shell. If there stress, however, beyond the buckling point decreased until
is linear stress-strain behaviour (as observed in practice), the cylinders became solid again. The configurations
the stress is given by rubber cylinders assume before and during buckling have
u = Ee .
. . . . (23) been described in detail elsewhere (6).
where E is the effective compression modulus and e the Very good straight-line relations were obtained between
applied strain. For hollow cylinders axially compressed E stress and strain up to the buckling point. However, as it
is given by (2): is unusual for rubber in compression to show a linear
stress-strain relation, it is assumed that the bending of the
4 walls before buckling is responsible for this. For the
E = -3E o ( l + k S 2 ) . . * (24)
thinner cylinders equation (24) over-estimates the effec-
Combining equations (22), (23), and (24) and assuming tive compression modulus, but if the measured values of
the shape factor to be so small that S2 is negligible, we E are used in conjunction with equations (22) and (23),
obtain the experimental points shown in Fig. 11 fall on the
theoretical curves for all values of the ratio D / d . For the
l h D-d
ecr = --=- * (25) rubber tested, buckling is just apparent with D / d = 2.6
2R D+d ' '
and it may be assumed that for larger ratios buckling does
where D and d are the external and internal diameters of not take place. This ratio however is somewhat less for
the cylinders. Equation (25) is plotted in Fig. 11. rubbers of higher hardness.
Equation (25) predicts that the critical strain is inde-
pendent of the length of the cylinder. It is expected, how-
ever, that long cylinders will buckle as struts. Buckling of
solid circular struts has been investigated by Harringx
(7). For built-in ends the critical load is given by

where I is thz second moment of area of the cross-section

and L the length in the undeformed state.
It is assumed that this formula holds for hollow
cylinders. In this case the load is given by (3):
4 e
l'= EOA-
3 1-e
L d (Da+d2)
and I=A
16
Fig. 11. Strain at buckling of axially compressed hollow
cylinders where A is the undeformed cross-sectional area and e the

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 STIFFNESS CHARACTERISTICS OF RUBBER IMPACT ABSORBERS

author acknowledges many helpful discussions with Mr

P. B. Lindley of these laboratories.

APPENDIX 1
The composition of all the rubber testpieces used was as
follows (parts per hundred rubber by weight) :
Natural Rubber (RSS1) 100
Zinc oxide 5
Stearic acid 2
Sulphur 2.5
Phenyl-p-naphthylamine 1
N-c y clohex yl-2-benzt hiazy1
sulphenamide 0.6
Vulcanization time and temperature was normally 40
min at 140C. This compound gives a modulus of about
Fig. 13. Strain at buckling of long and short axially 19.5 kgf/cm2 and k = 0.78.
compressed hollow cylinders
APPENDIX 2
relative compression (6/L). Substituting in equation (26) HOLLOW CIRCULAR CYLINDERS
the strain ecr at buckling is given by
Using equations ( 3 ) and ( 6 ) we obtain the bending
ecr 37r2 ( D 2 + d 2 ) moment M , (Fig. 1) from
-=--
(27)
Ion
*
l-ecr 16 L2 * *

Equation (27) is plotted in Fig. 13 as ecr against (-:&) d+ = 0

( D 2 + d 2 ) 1 1 2 / LHorizontal
, lines indicate the values of ecr
predicted by equation (25) for chosen ratios of D/d. If equation (5) is substituted into the above, M , becomes
T o investigate the range of validity of equations (25)
and (27) the four thinner cylinders, Type A, listed in
Table 1, were used to provide ratios of length to outer
where g = I/AR2.Hence
M , = PR
:1)
(:---+-
diameter ranging from 0.6 to 6.0. Results appear in Fig. 13
where it is seen that cylinders will buckle according to
equation (25) or to equation (27), according to which gives
the lesser strain, provided L is greater than about 0.80. The deflection 6 under the load P is given by 6 = aUjaP.
For shorter cylinders the strain at buckling is increased or, The contributions to the deflection due to the three terms
in some instances, buckling does not occur. In fact if the 6, 6,, and 6, defined below are
strain exceeds about 0.45 the cylinders will not buckle;
nor do they buckle if solid circular and rectangular struts
are present (7). It was interesting to note that for the
thinnest cylinder with L = 1.50 two circumferential
lobes appeared at buckling. These are also predicted by
classical elasticity theory (5).

CONCLUSIONS
By use of classical elasticity theory the deformation charac-
teristics of hollow rubber sections have been derived with
fair accuracy for a range of practical shapes and relative a
n2~P2R c ~ 7 rPR
dimensions. 6,=4- -sin2 d+ = --
a P l 0 8AG 4 AG
+
Various parameters of the curves have been established
and predicted theoretically and a previously derived theory It is convenient to express the dimensional quantities in
of the behaviour of solid-rubber pads has been success- terms of the inner and outer diameters d and D and the
fully employed to describe the state of rubber at large length L of the cylinder:
compressions, provided the loaded area can be correctly R = ( D + d ) / 4 , I = L(D-d)3/96, A = L ( D - d ) / 2
predicted. The accuracy with which both bilinear charac-
teristics and buckling modes of deformation are described Hence
should enable a fair estimate to be made of the energy g = Z/AR2 = d / 3 , w = ( D - d ) / ( D + d )
absorbed under the large deformations that are required
Since E = Eo/(l-v2), v = 0.5, and G = E0/3 the total
in practical application.
deflection 6 is given by
P
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ti = s,+s,+s, = -r,
This work is part of the research programme of the EOL
Natural Rubber Producers Research Association. The where PA is given by equation (7).

JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 7 NO I I972 39

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 E. A. BAKIRZIS

HALF-CYLINDRICAL SECTIONS

The same method as above is used for the calculation of

the deflections of half-cylindrical sections.
Since, from equations (11), aM/BMo = 1, aN/aMo =
%V/aMo= 0, the condition aU/aMo = 0 at the clamped
edge gives

Substituting equation (1 1) into the above gives

= +S,( 1 +4b2 -8Pl.r)

The condition aU/aH = 0 with
The total deflection 6 is given by
a
aM aN
= R sin 4, - = sin 4,
av = cos 4
a D
aH
similarly gives
where r, is given by equation (16).
0 APPENDIX 3
Substituting for E/G = 3/(1--v2) and solving for H and REFERENCES
M o we obtain (I) LINDLEY, P. B. Load-compression relationships of rubber
units,J. Strain Analysis 1966 1, 190.
(2) GENT,A. N. and LINDLEY, P. B. The compression of bonded
rubber blocks, R o c . Znstn mech. Engrs 1959 173, 111.
PR (3) LINDLEY, P. B. The stiffness of rubber springs, Use of rubber
M 0 -- -7r
[.rr/2+g-1+(g-1)H/Pl in engineering (edited by Allen, P. W. et al.) 1967 (Maclaren
and Sons Ltd, London).
In terms of the diametral ratio D/d, Hand M o are given (4) TIMOSHENKO, S . Strength of materials (Part 1) 3rd edition 1955
by equations (13) and (14). For very thin sections g N 0 (D. Van Nostrand Co. Ltd, New York and London).
and (5) TIMOSHENKO, S. and GERE,J. Theory of elastic stability 1961
(McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., London).
H = 0*461P, Mo = 0.112PR (6) WILLIS,A. H. Instability in hollow rubber cylinders sub-
which are the values given for thin semicircular arches jected to axial loading, 7th Znt. Congr. appl. Mech. 1948.
(8). (7) HARRINGX, J. On highly compressible helical springs and
rubber rods, Part 111, Philips Res. Rep. 1949 4, 206.
The three components of the deflection are, as before, (8) VANDENBROCK, J. A. Elastic energy theory 1942 (John Wiley
denoted by S,, S I C , and S I S : and Sons Inc., New York).

40 JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 7 NO I 1972

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