Carbon fiber-reinforced rectangular isolators with compressible elastomer: Analytical solution for compression and bending

The behavior of multilayer elastomeric isolators employing carbon fibers as reinforcement material rather than steel has been considered. This kind of reinforcement is used to make the isolators lighter and cheaper, since carbon fibers (or Kevlar) are much more resistant per unit weight than steel. From the mechanical point of view, the main difference is that the fiber reinforcement cannot be considered rigid in extension as it is usually done for steel plates. In this paper an analytical model to analyze the compression and bending behavior of fiber-reinforced rectangular isolators is presented. The model takes into account, for the first time, both the reinforcement extensibility and the compressibility of the elastomer. An analytical solution to predict deformations, stresses and stiffness is here determined in terms of Fourier series, both for compression and bending.