| Summary: | The stress relaxation behavior of a Twaron CT709® fabric/natural rubber composite under a uniaxial constant strain is studied using three viscoelasticity models with different levels of complexity and a newly developed para-rheological model. The three viscoelasticity models employed are a one-term generalized Maxwell model (comprising one Maxwell element and an additional spring in parallel), a two-term generalized Maxwell model (including two Maxwell elements and an additional spring in parallel), and a four-parameter Burgers model. The values of the parameters involved in each model are extracted from the experimental data obtained in this study. The stress relaxation tests reveal that the stress starts to decay exponentially for a short duration and then continues to decrease linearly with time. It is found that the initial relaxation response of the composite is predicted fairly well by all of the four models, while the long-time stress relaxation behavior is more accurately predicted by the para-rheological model. The accuracy of each model in describing the stress relaxation behavior of the composite is quantitatively compared. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
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