Computer Simulation of Cure Process of an Axisymmetric Rubber Article Reinforced by Metal Plates Using Extended ABAQUS Code

Abstract

Afinite element model is developed for simulation of the curing process of a thick axisymmetric rubber article reinforced by metal plates during the molding and cooling stages. The model consists of the heat transfer equation and a newly developed kinetics model for the determination of the state of cure in the rubber. The latter is based on the modification of the well-known Kamal-Sourour model. The thermal contact of the rubber with metallic surfaces (inserts and molds) and the variation of the thermal properties (conductivity and specific heat) with temperature and state-of-cure are taken into consideration. The ABAQUS code is used in conjunction with an in-house developed user subroutine to solve the governing equations. Having compared temperature profile and variation of the state-of-cure with experimentally measured data, the accuracy and applicability of the model is confirmed. It is also shown that this model can be successfully used for the optimization of curing process which gives rise to reduction of the molding time