Study of the simple extension tear test sample for rubber with configurational mechanics (Q933256)

The author shows that previous derivations given by \textit{R. S. Rivlin} (1953) and \textit{J. D. Eshelby} [J. Elasticity 5, 321--335 (1975; Zbl 0323.73011)] to evaluate the tearing energy in rubber materials -- a special case of energy release rate -- can be advantageously revisited in the framework of the modern theory of configurational forces. This is carefully applied to a simple extension tear test, known to specialists as the trousers sample test, in the study of crack propagation in rubber. This involves an interpretation of the components of the (Eshelby) configurational stress tensor in the body on the basis of a work by \textit{R. Kienzler} and \textit{G. Herrmann} [Acta Mech. 125, No. 1--4, 73--91 (1997; Zbl 0896.73007)].