Numerical modelling of elastomers using the boundary element method

The FEM analysis of hyper elastic, elastomeric materials has been formulated and implemented for various material models (strain energy functions) over the years. More recently, the analysis of elastomeric materials has been attempted in the boundary element method. This has been achieved by the addition of non-linear domain terms to the basic linear boundary element equation. These non-linear domain terms require the evaluation of the displacement derivative components directly from displacement derivative boundary integral equations. In the solution to the boundary problem it is required to regularize the different types of singularities occurring in the system of non-linear boundary integral equations. This paper discusses the necessary theory for the boundary element method as applied to elastomers and presents a comparison between semi-analytical and numerical solutions for various test cases.