Steel cord-rubber composites: mechanical properties by a numerical homogenization method

In this paper a numerical micromechanical method for the determination of the mechanical properties of steel cord-rubber composites is presented. The approach is based on the finite element method assuming a periodic distribution of the reinforcements in the composite. The theoretical concepts of the homogenization theory for periodic media are exploited. The determination of the global (or macroscopic) mechanical behaviour of the heterogeneous material is reduced to the analysis of a Representative Volume (RV). The numerical predictions are validated against experimental investigations on single and multi-layers specimens. Different steel cords, having a wide range of orientation, and two types of rubber are considered.