Nonlinear analysis of the inflation of an initially flat, circular, elastic disk

An approximate analysis is given for the inflation of a thin, flat circular disk of elastomeric material. The analysis results in a closed‐form analytical solution for the maximum displacement as a function of pressure. The method is illustrated through the use of a Mooney‐Rivlin material model. The results are compared with the exact solution, obtained by numerical means, and they are satisfactory, up into the range of several hundred percent strain. The method greatly simplifies the procedure for reducing test data, from this type of test, to nonlinear range mechanical properties.