Understanding and modelling the Mullins softening from a mechanical point of view

Mullins softening is a substantial softening witnessed in filled rubbers upon first stretch. The effect was named after Mullins for its efforts to characterize, rationalize, understand and model the phenomenon. It has been studied for more than six decades and no general agreement has been reached either on its mechanical modeling or its physical interpretation. This contribution summarizes recent results obtained during Yannick Merckel’s PhD thesis, on the mechanical understanding and modeling of the Mullins effect.