Academic Journal of Science and Technology 
ISSN: 2771-3032 | Vol. 8, No. 3, 2023 

 

144 

Dynamic	Impact	Mechanical	Test	of	Rubber	Based	on	
DIC	Method	
Minghang He 

School of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China 

 

Abstract: In order to study the strain field of rubber material in the impact process, the impact test of rubber body was carried 
out by E-SHPB device. Combined with high-speed photography and DIC technology, the non-contact measurement of rubber 
materials was carried out, and the obtained data were compared and screened. The impact compression diagram and strain field 
change cloud diagram of rubber in the impact process were obtained. The test results show that during the dynamic impact 
process, the strain concentration phenomenon first occurs at the contact area between the rubber body and the incident rod in the 
early stage of impact. As the stress wave propagates inside the material, the strain concentration phenomenon gradually shifts, 
and finally tends to the middle area to produce a larger strain concentration. At this time, the rubber body is highly compressed 
and reaches a critical state of springback. 

Keywords: DIC; rubber; strain field; e-SHPB; dynamic impact.. 
 

1. Introduction 
Rubber materials are widely used in industries including 

automobile, ship, machinery, construction, and more, which 
have the capacity of impact resistance, energy absorption and 
seismic resistance, and have important social and economic 
benefits, furthermore, rubber materials are widely available 
for various protective engineering, and their dynamic 
mechanical properties attract widespread attention from 
countries around the world. At present, the studies on rubber 
materials are generally based on quasi-static loading or ultra-
high strain rate impact loading. Bingbing Wang [1] et al. 
performed uniaxial compression tests on semicircular rubber 
mat under 5 strain rates, and conducted drop hammer impact 
simulation analysis on the steering column by using quasi-
static rubber parameters and considering rubber parameters 
under different strain rates, respectively. 

The study on rubber dynamic properties at different 
temperatures is also one of the world's research hotspots. 
Jinping Zhuang[2] et al. proposed the modified formula of the 
dynamic growth factor of SFRSCC after high temperature, 
and provided some references for further analysis and 
discussion of the dynamic properties of self-compacting 
concrete with steel fiber and rubber after high temperature. 

This paper takes the rubber body as the research object, 
combines the DIC technology, utilizes the strong light source 
to carry out the non-contact and non-destructive measurement 
on the rubber body, explores the strain field of the rubber 
materials under the dynamic load, and studies the whole 
process of the dynamic impact of the rubber body. 

2. Test System 

2.1. Introduction to the Test 
This test carried out three sets of axial impacts of E-SHPB, 

DIC software could be used in conjunction with high-speed 
camera and photoelectric tachometer, and measured various 
deformations from macroscopic to microscopic. Among them, 
the experimental technology of electromagnetic drive 
Hopkinson bar (E-SHPB) is to replace the traditional pressure 

loading method in Hopkinson bar with electromagnetic drive 
to drive bullet to impact the incident bar to generate stress 
wave, and it is a new dynamic loading technology developed 
by combining electromagnetic drive technology with 
Hopkinson bar experimental technology. 

Ultra-dynamic strain gauge can record the strain history 
through the strain gauge pasted on the incident bar and 
transmission bar, it is stored in the form of electrical signals, 
according to the propagation theory of one-dimensional stress 
wave, the dynamic stress, strain and strain rate of the 
specimen can be derived indirectly via the voltage signals 
collected by the strain gauges, etc. The stress, strain and strain 
rate of the rubber specimen can be calculated via the 
experimental stress waveform [3]: 

 

1( ) [ ( ) ( ) ( )]
2

R T

s

AE
t t t t

A
               (1) 

 

1
0

( ) [ ( ) ( ) ( )]R T

t

s

C
t t t t dt

L
              (2) 

 

1( ) [ ( ) ( ) ( )]R T

s

C
t t t t

L
                (3) 

 
In the equation: A, E, C are the cross-sectional area, 

modulus of elasticity and longitudinal wave velocity of the 
compression bar, respectively; AS, LS are the cross-sectional 
area and thickness of the specimen, respectively; εI(t), εR(t), 
εT(t) are the incident strain, reflection strain and transmission 
strain at time t, respectively, and t is the duration of the stress 
wave. 

The studies on mechanical properties of rubber-like 
deformable materials are different from the studies on 
metallic materials and rock materials, which measure the 
deformation of the specimen mainly by means of optical 
measurement. Optical measurement methods mainly include 
photoelastic method, moire method, DIC [4] and so on. DIC 
technology has low requirements for the experimental 



 

145 

environment, can measure the strain field of the specimen 
during the deformation, which has the advantages of non-
contact, high precision, full-field measurement, and it is easy 
to use. 

2.2. Test process 
This test chooses cylindrical rubber body with a diameter 

of 50mm and a height of 25mm, as shown in Fig.1. After core-
taking, cutting, polishing and smoothing of test block, this test 
start making speckle, due to operational convenience 
consideration, the initial production of speckle uses manual 
paint spraying method, first, the white matte paint is evenly 
sprayed on the surface of the rubber body, after the white 
paint dries, a black pen is randomly embellished to the white 
painting area, so that the dense and randomly distributed 
black dots appear in the surface of the rubber body sprayed 
with white paint. 

 

 
Figure 1. Rubber body 

 

This test adopts the impact bar (bullet) with the length of 
400mm, the incident bar with the length of 1600mm, and the 
transmission bar with the length 800mm. The impact bar is 
launched by electromagnetic drive, the control voltage is used 
to change the speed of the impact, and the photoelectric 
tachometer can record the impact speed of the impact bar. The 
rubber body and the compression bar are tightly combined 
during the impact process, and the photoelectric tachometer 
is put on the parallel position between the impact bar and the 
incident bar during the test; a strong light source is placed 
after the high-speed camera to meet the lighting requirements; 
when the impact begins, it will trigger the high-speed camera 
to take photos, the camera's position is adjusted based on the 
lighting conditions at the test site, the impact picture is shot 
as clearly as possible; after the impact test ends, all speckle 
photos taken are automatically saved to the computer, and 
then DIC analysis software is used for subsequent processing 
to obtain the strain field. 

3. Analysis of Test Results 
The impact mechanical properties of the rubber body with 

a on-load voltage of 1600v are tested in this test, and the 
impact test results are shown in Table.1. 

 

Table 1. Data measured of rubber body in impact test 

number on-load 
voltage 

(v) 

impact 
velocity 
(m·s-1) 

peak strain 
(με) 

gx-1 1600 6.431 22900 
gx-2 1600 6.430 22889 
gx-3 1600 6.433 22921 

 

After the impact test ends, first, the collected speckle 
photos are screened, the most characteristic images among 
them are selected, and then the DIC software is applied to 
process this group of images, after regional division, selection 
of seed points, analysis, and strain calculation, thus, the strain 
cloud map of the rubber body can be obtained.. 

Fig.2 shows the deformation and evolution process of the 
rubber body under 1600V on-load voltage shock (the rubber 
surface is coated with white spray paint): 

 

    
(a)                (b) 

    
(c)                (d) 

Figure 2. Shock compression process of rubber body 

 

The following is the variation cloud diagram of strain field 
of rubber body under the impact of 1600v on-load voltage. 

 

 
Figure 3. Impact loading step (a) 

 

 
Figure 4. Impact loading step (b) 

 



 

146 

 
Figure 5. Impact loading step (c) 

 

 
Figure 6. Impact loading step (d) 

 

Fig.3, 4, 5, and 6 show the microstrain of the rubber body 
during the 1600v on-load voltage impact, respectively. In the 
early stage of applying impact load, when the stress wave just 
reaches the front end of the rubber body, large deformation 
appears in the contact area between the rubber body and the 
incident bar, with the propagation of the stress wave in the 
rubber body material, the deformation continuously spreads 
from front to back, and finally compressed to the extreme, at 
this time, the compression is no longer increased, and reaches 
the critical state of springback. 

4. Conclusion 
This paper is based on the DIC technology and its 

application methods, and studies the dynamic mechanical 
properties of rubber materials by using the E-SHPB device to 
impact the rubber body. The conclusion is drawn as follows: 

(1) The test phenomenon suggests that rubber-like easily 
deformable materials are highly nonlinear, the faster the 
impact speed (the higher the strain rate), the smaller the 
rubber compression, and the more obvious the hardening 
phenomenon of rubber. 

(2) In the dynamic impact process, strain concentration 
phenomenon occurs first at the contact area between the 
rubber materials and the incident bar in the early stage of 
impact, with the propagation of the stress wave in the material, 
the strain concentration phenomenon gradually shifts, finally, 
a large strain concentration is generated in the middle area, at 
this time the rubber materials are highly compressed and 
reaches a critical state that is about to rebound. 

(3) DIC technology can better represent the full-field strain 
of rubber-like deformable materials in the impact process. 

References 
[1] Bingbing Wang, Taohua Hu. Study on Mechanical Properties 

of Rubber under Impact Load [J]. Automotive Parts, 2019 (11): 
59-62.  

[2] Jinping Zhuang, Kai Ren, Ke Xu, et al. Dynamic Impact 
Performance of Steel Fiber Rubber Self-compacting Concrete 
after High Temperature [J]. Journal of Vibration and Shock, 
2023, 42(20):19-29. 

[3] Nao Lv, Haibo Wang, Qi Zong. Application and Practice of 
3D-DIC Technology in SHPB Experimental Teaching [J]. 
Experimental Technology and Management, 20 23, 40 (05): 
165-170+184. 

[4] Hong Xiao, Chengnan Li, Mingchi Feng. Large Deformation 
Measurement Method of Speckle Images Based on Deep 
Learning [J]. Acta Optica Sinica,2023,43(14):123.