Rate‐Dependent Interfacial Behavior and Failure Mechanisms of Cord/Rubber Composites for Aircraft Tires

ABSTRACT

The rate‐dependent response of cord/rubber composites (CRCs) is critical to the structural integrity of aircraft tires during touchdown impact. In this work, an integrated experimental‐numerical framework is developed to investigate the interfacial behavior of aramid/polyamide (AF/PA) hybrid cord/rubber systems over a wide range of pull‐out velocities (1–10 ⁴  mm/s). High‐rate tensile and pull‐out tests show pronounced rate sensitivity in both the bulk constituents and the cord/rubber interface, as reflected by increased stiffness, peak pull‐out force, and failure‐mode transition with increasing velocity and interface length. Multiscale finite element analyses further reveal strong axial stress concentration near the loaded end together with circumferentially localized high‐shear regions induced by the twisted cord geometry to interpret mechanical responses and support interfacial parameter identification. Based on these observations, a rate‐dependent cohesive zone model is established by extending the Xu‐Needleman potential through an equivalent separation rate and logarithmic evolution laws for the interfacial fracture energy and tangential characteristic separation. The model reproduces the apparent stiffness and peak pull‐out force with maximum errors of 13.1% and 12.7%, respectively, for interfacial‐debonding cases over the investigated range. A rate‐dependent failure map is further constructed, capturing the transition from interfacial debonding to cord fracture as pull‐out velocity and embedded length increase. The proposed framework provides mechanistic insight into transient interfacial load transfer and a predictive basis for the design of aircraft‐tire CRCs under impact loading.