Proceedings of the ASME 2018

International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition

IMECE2018
November 9-15, 2018, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

IMECE2018-88627

HEAT BUILT UP DURING DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS (DMA) TESTING OF

RUBBER SPECIMENS

Roja Esmaeelia, Ashkan Nazarib, Haniph Aliniagerdroudbaria, Seyed Reza Hashemia, Muapper
Alhadria, Waleed Zakria, Siamak Farhad a 1
a-Advanced Energy & Sensor Lab, The University of Akron, Akron, OH
b- Center For Tire Research, Mechanical Engineering Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

ABSTRACT can be calculated [2, 3]. As an example, thermal conductivity of

The viscoelastic properties of rubbers play an important the Styrene-Butadiene rubber (SBR) is really low compared to
role in dynamic applications and are commonly measured and the steel KSBR=0.25 W/(mK) [4], Ksteel=51.9 W/(mK) [5].
quantified by means of Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) Due to the low thermal conductivity of rubber, the generated
tests. The rubber properties including the static and dynamic heat causes the temperature increase inside the rubber. This
moduli are a function of temperature; and an increase in the phenomenon is known as heat built-up in rubbers [6]. Another
temperature leads to a decrease in both moduli of the rubber. characteristic of viscoelastic materials is time- and temperature-
Due to the heat generation inside the rubber during the DMA dependency of properties [7, 8]. It means for a given
test and the possible change of the rubber properties it is viscoelastic material, the phase difference between the stress
important to quantify the amount of temperature rise in the and strain waves is a function of the material temperature and
rubber specimen during the test. In this study, a Finite Element the frequency of these waves which in turn affects material
Analysis (FEA) model is used to predict the heat generation and properties.
temperature rise during the rubber DMA tests. This model is Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is a technique to
used to identify the best shape of the specimen to achieve the study viscoelastic properties of elastomers in dynamic
minimum increase in temperature during the test. The double application. For this aim a stress or strain waive is applied to a
sandwich shear test and the cyclic compression tests are viscoelastic material and phase angle and dynamic response is
considered in this study because these two tests are mostly used analyzed. From these data, the damping factor, tan δ, can be
in industry to predict the rubber viscoelastic properties. calculated and the complex modulus and viscosity data can be
detected. Basis of DMA technique is to investigate time- and
INTRODUCTION temperature-dependency which is a characteristic of viscoelastic
Within the context of tires, wiper blades, conveyor materials. DMAs and these approaches have been studied in
belts, sealing or any kind of elastomer implemented in dynamic several publications [1, 9-13] especially, readers are referred to
applications, the viscoelastic properties of elastomers has the papers published by Nolle [11] and Nijenhuis [12]. ASTM
remarkable influence on performance, quality and longevity of standards are also user-friendly sources to use DMA systems
the part. Materials, such as rubbers, exhibiting both viscous and [14-20]. DMA devices increase the temperature of rubber and
elastic behaviors as they undergo deformation are called perform the test at low frequencies and then master curves or
viscoelastic materials. If a material is purely elastic, the phase the Williams, Landel and Ferry (WLF) equation are used [21] to
difference between the stress and strain waves is zero degree; predict the rubber properties at high frequencies. In the
and if the material is purely viscous, the phase difference is 90 endeavor to find rubber properties from this approach, heat
degree. A viscoelastic material has a phase difference built-up is assumed to have negligible effect on properties
somewhere between these two extremes [1]. In the stress-strain which might not be reliable. In some rubbers with reinforcing
curve of the viscoelastic material during a full loading cycle, fillers such as carbon black and silica, the effect of filler content
due to the mentioned effect, a hysteretic loop can be seen. From [22-26], the crosslinking density, the process parameters [27,
the area of this hysteretic loop, the amount of energy dissipation 28], the ambient temperature [29] and loading frequency [4] on

1 Corresponding Author (sfarhad@uakron.edu)

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 heat build-up have been studied by researchers. Besides, using finite element analysis (FEA). Eq.7 represents the heat
chemical and physical changes of the rubber structure at generation in the viscoelastic materials as a function of
elevated temperature and operating variables are some other frequency and strain amplitude. For simulation of heat transfer
parameters affecting the DMA test results [6, 28, 30], that in specimen the COMSOL Multiphysics software is used.
Hardware In the Loop (HIL) can be a reliable way to simulate
them [31, 32]. Q  4VfE 02 sin 2 (wt ) (7)
The DMA shear and compression tests look like a rubber
metal sandwich and heat generation in rubber metal block is
numerically studied by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) [3, 33, Where V is the specimen volume and f is the frequency.
34] and is experimentally tested [6, 35]. Also it has been proven
that heat built up is affected by the rubber geometry, such as
with increasing the rubber thickness the path to transfer the heat
through the material would be bigger [36].
Therefore, it can be concluded that the uncertainty of DMA
tests depends mostly on the temperature increase inside the
specimen which might lead to discrepancy of properties at
different parts of the test specimen. This will necessitate the Figure 1. Schematic of the (a) tension-compression and (b)
need for a satisfactory choice of shape factor which is the main shear DMA tests.
destination of this research. Determining the best shape factor
resulting in least possible heat generation during different DMA MODELING
shear and compression tests is performed with the use of Test specimens for compression and shear DMA tests are
COMSOL Multiphysics software. shown in Fig. 2 and the geometry of these specimens are in
Table 2. The reason to have these geometries is due to previous
RUBBER DYNAMIC RESPONSE works on literature and recommendations of commercial
Following equations give the material viscoelastic response instrument companies. The rubber block shape factor is defined
to the sinusoidal strain wave [10]: as loaded area divided by bulge area [4]. For all of the specimen
dimensions the shape factor is reported in Table 1. In addition,
   0 sin( wt ) (1) the clamp is made from stainless steel and the unfilled rubber is
used as test specimen material. The dependency of complex
   0 sin( wt   ) (2) shear modulus of unfilled rubber on frequency and temperature
is calculated based on the data reported in Ref. [37] and is used
here ε_0 is the maximum amplitude of the strain, The ratio
as an input MATLAB code for modeling in COMSOL
between the loss and storage moduli (E"/ E') gives the
Multiphysics software, that is a suited way to study the heat
mechanical damping factor (tan δ) which is a measure of the
transfer modeling[38-40].
amount of deformational energy that is dissipated as heat during
each cycle. E' and E" represent the real and imaginary
components of this vector thus [10]:

E *  E  E (3)

Complex modulus will be used as a means for expressing Figure 2. Geometry of test specimen for compression and
both the ordinary dynamic elastic modulus and the mechanical shear DMA tests
loss in the material as a complex number [10].
Table 1. Test specimen for DMA tests
E  E* cos (4) Specimen h D W L Shape
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) factor
E  E* sin  (5)
Square Size 1 19.5 - 25 25 0.32
(6) Compression Size 2 10 - 20 20 0.5
tan   E 
E Circular Size 1 12.5 19.5 - - 0.39
Compression Size 2 10 10 - - 0.25
The rubber specimen is clamped between two metal parts Double shear Size 1 5 - 40 16 1.14
as shown in Fig. 1. These two metal parts and the clamp are
Size 2 4 - 10 10 0.62
considered as ideal heat sink for the specimens and the
maximum temperature reached in the specimen is determined

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 Three different analyses are done on specimens while
temperature of metal plates are kept fixed at each test
temperature to recognize the best shape factor for the DMA
tests. In the first study for each temperature in the range of -100
to 100C, the frequency sweep (1-80Hz) is applied for 2 minutes
soak time and the maximum temperature inside the specimen is
calculated. Frequency sweep at different temperatures is the
way that commercial DMA’s used to calculate the master curves
with the use of WLF equation. For modeling at each
temperature it is assumed that the specimen is placed in that
temperature for a while and the specimen and metal clamps are
in that specific temperature in the beginning of the test. In the
second study, a change in the compression amplitude known as
strain sweep in the range of 1-30% is applied to all specimen Figure 4. Comparison of the developed model with
geometries in a 2000µm/min displacement rate and 5 minutes Luukkonen et al results [36]
soak time and the maximum temperature inside the specimen is
calculated. In the third study the effect of specimen thickness Luukkonen et al. [36] test on temperature increase of the
and width on maximum temperature inside the rubber is bulk rubber after 700 minutes of compression test is compared
investigated. with modified model and a comprehensive agreement is seen
between reference data and the model output voltage in Fig 4.
MODEL VALIDATION The maximum precision uncertainty is 7% occurred on 6Hz and
Luukkonen et al. [36] tested two structural steel layers 18% compression at 207 min. The main reason for this
sandwiching a styrene-butadiene rubber under compression test. difference is the assumption of keeping the metal clamp at the
The thickness of each steel layer and the SBR layer are 5 mm fixed temperature in COMSOL Multiphysics software modeling
and 15 mm, respectively. The width and length of all layers are but this temperature increase practically is conducted to metal
set to be 100 mm thus making an effective area under layer thus increasing metal temperature or is consume to the
compression of 10000 mm2. The compression test runs in structural changes of rubber such as plastic deformation.
dynamic compression of 7.5% and 6 HZ frequency and 18%
and 2 HZ frequency, respectively. The test duration is 12 hours. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The surface temperature of the intact rubber is measured by the The Circular and Square shape specimen for compression
use of thermal camera and thermoelements inside the rubber test and Double shear specimen with given geometry in Table.1
specimen is used to measure the bulk rubber temperature. For are modeled in COMSOL 5.3. Extremely fine mesh is used for
validation, the Ref. [36] geometry and boundary conditions of all the geometries and the number of mesh elements is
the compression test is simulated on COMSOL Multiphysics presented in Table 2.
software and is shown in Fig. 3.
Extremely fine mesh is used and the model have 191313 Table 2. Number of mesh elements
mesh elements. the Ref. [36] results show that after Circular Square Double shear
approximately 400 minutes the temperature stabilized therefore Compression Compression
to decrease the simulation time, the results are compared for
1 2 1 2 1 2
just this time interval.
50506 79957 198791 311129 20855 39461

The temperature changes during frequency sweep (1-80

Hz) of compression test with 10% dynamic compression, for
different temperatures, while temperature of metal plates are
kept fixed at each test temperature, is calculated for two
specimens of square shape is shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6
respectively. The thermal conductivity of the metal clamp is
high thus the assumption of keeping the metal clamp
temperature fixed at each test temperature can be fulfilled. As it
is obvious by an increase in frequency the maximum
temperature inside the specimen increases. In addition, as the
Figure 3. Validation model geometry and finite element specimen volume increases the maximum temperature increases
mesh. as a result. It is reported that as soon as the inner part of the
rubber reaches about 200 ͦ C the blowout occurs [4] thus for the

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 both square compression specimen sizes with given geometries specimen than frequency changes. Double shear specimen 1 has
in Table 1 the test with the 80 Hz frequency at 100 ͦ C, brings the lowest maximum temperature although it is 8 times bigger
the rubber inner temperature more than 155 ͦ C and the results of in volume than double shear specimen 2, but it has larger area
that test cannot be reliable. in contact with metal clamp at 20 ͦ C. Consequently, specimens
having more area in contact with metal clamp are better for
running the DMA tests considering heat buildup inside the
specimens. Since the metal clamp conductivity is 200 times
greater than the rubber conductivity, the clamp conductivity
effect on the temperature distribution in the rubber specimen is
assumed negligible

Table 3. Temperature increase for each test temperature in

frequency sweep test
Test temperature ( ͦ C) 100 20 0 -20 -100
Specimen Square
temperature compression 57.6 40 32.8 22.4 16.1
increase size 1
( ͦ C) Square
compression 48 32.8 24 16 10.5
Figure 5. Maximum Temperature of frequency sweep size 2
(1-80Hz) of compression test with 10% dynamic Circular
compression for Square Compression specimen 1 compression 54 37.3 29.2 20 14
size 1
Circular
compression 62.3 51.2 44 35 22.7
size 2
Double shear
28 20 16 13.6 8
size 1
Double shear
36 32 25.6 21.6 16
size 2

Figure 6. Maximum temperature of frequency sweep (1-

80Hz) of compression test with 10% dynamic compression
for Square Compression specimen 2

The same frequency sweep test for different temperatures is

done on other specimen shapes as Fig. 1 and 2 and the
temperature increase in each test specimen is presented in
Table3. For all specimen shape factor the temperature increase
is not negligible in the frequency sweep test and definitely Figure 7. The change of maximum temperature with
affect the DMA final results. Specially running the DMA test in strain at 10Hz frequency
high frequency and high temperature is not recommended.
The strain sweep for all the specimen sizes is shown in Fig. In another study the effect of specimen thickness on the
7. Strain change of 0.05% to 25% while the frequency is 10Hz heat buildup is reviewed for the square compression shape 1. At
is applied to the specimens over an hour and all the tests are 20C and 10% dynamic compression the thickness is decreased
conducted at room temperature (20 ͦ C) and the metal clamp from 19.5 to 5 mm and the result is shown in Fig. 8. By
temperature is also kept fix at 20 ͦ C. By comparing Fig. 5 and 6 decreasing the thickness, the internal maximum temperature is
with this figure, it can be concluded that dynamic strain change increased. While the effect of temperature increase on the DMA
has lower effect on the maximum temperature inside the

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 results might be considered as a drawback, it is better to use the DMA test results regarding to heat buildup. It is more
thicker sample for the DMA test. reasonable to use materials with high thermal conductivity for
clamps in DMA tests and run the test in low temperatures.

CONCLUSION
Rubber as a viscoelastic material has mechanical properties
that are time and temperature dependent such as complex
modulus. Complex modulus is a function of the material
temperature and frequency. Complex modulus is measured with
DMA tests thus better understanding of the heat generation in
rubber is necessary to have reliable test results. In this paper the
maximum temperature inside the rubber was calculated in
compression and shear DMA tests using development of an
FEA modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics software. It is
concluded that by an increase in frequency and strain the
maximum temperature inside the specimen increases. The
Figure 8. The effect of the specimen thickness on the increase in the specimen thickness leads to a decrease of the
maximum rubber temperature in frequency sweep maximum temperature inside the rubber. And bigger are in
compression test conduction with the metal clamp is better to have smaller
temperature change during the DMA test. In addition, without
Fig. 9 shows the effect of width increase on the maximum any further consideration to decrease the rubber temperature,
temperature inside the rubber. The square compression shape 1 running the test with 10% compression for above 70 Hz is hard
width, at 20°C, 10% strain and 10Hz, is changed from 10 to to conduct and rubber specimen will reach the blowout
30mm. The temperature increase seen is just 0.12 °C with such temperature undesirably. For all DMA tests it is recommended
a substantial width increase. According to Fig. 8 at 20°C and to select materials with high thermal conductivity for metal
10% compression, by 14.5 mm increasing the thickness, the clamp and run the test in lower temperatures. The best shape
temperature changes will be 5°C at 10Hz. As mentioned before, factor is 1.14 for shear test and 0.39 for compression test and is
by extending the width the thermal conduction area with the chosen according to common specimen dimensions on
metal clamp is enlarged, therefore increase in the specimen commercial DMA’s.
contact surface with the metal clamp has positive effect
accordingly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project has been supported by NSF-I/UCRC, Center for

Tire Research (CenTiRe)

NOMENCLATURE
σ Stress
σ0 Initial Stress
ε Strain
ε0 Initial strain
δ Phase angle
f Frequency
F Force
E' Storage modulus
E" Loss modulus
Figure 9. The effect of the specimen width on the E* Complex modulus
maximum rubber temperature in frequency sweep Q̇ Rate of heat generation
compression test at 10% strain and 10Hz frequency tan δ Damping factor
t Time
The specimens shape factor is presented in table 1 and V Volume
based on the double shear 1, is the most excellent one with σ Stress
which minimum heat generation can be achieved. For
compression test the square 2 shape with 0.5 shape factor is the
most outstanding one among the ones covered in this study. In
addition it is proven that bigger shape factor is lead to reliable

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