This paper addresses the practical problem of finding a useful strain energy function of the incompressible rubberlike materials. It examines methods by which the form of the functions are determined and shows how the selection of experimental data influences the resulting form of the functions. From this information, an optimal choice of the form of energy functions becomes possible.
Phenomenological theories used in this paper are limited to elastic, incompressible material models. Due to the nature of the phenomenological methods, these theories are accurate only for the materials treated. However, they serve as a starting basis for the study of more complicated material behaviors.
In an attempt to measure the irregularity of stress distribution which is generated in the test specimen in biaxial test, a finite element simulation is performed.
