A Visco-hyperelastic Constitutive Model for Rubber Considering the Strain Level and One Case Study in the Sealing Packer

The rubber cylinder is a key component for maintaining the sealing pressure of the packer,particularly in deep underground wells.The stress relaxation of materials,as a typical feature of viscoelasticity,has become one of the main factors causing the failure of rubber cylinders in service.In the present study,a visco-hyperelastic model for the sealing rubber considering different strain levels is proposed based on the Prony series.Subsequently,the uniaxial compression stress relaxation experiments are conducted on the sealing rubber under different temperatures and strain levels,and the model parameters are thereby identified.As a case study,the proposed model is incorporated into the ABAQUS software via the UM AT subroutine,and the finite element simulation of the sealing packer is carried out.The results show that the sealing performance of the packer improves with a decrease in temperature or an increase in strain level.It is also noted that a large strain level can lead to the protrusion of the shoulder of the rubber cylinder.