An automotive bushing is a device used in automotive suspension systems to reduce the load transmitted from the wheel to the frame of the vehicle. A bushing is a hollow cylinder, which is bonded to a solid steel shaft at its inner surface and a steel sleeve at its outer surface. The relation between the force applied to the shaft and the relative deformation of a bushing is nonlinear and exhibits features of viscoelasticity. In this paper, an automotive bushing is regarded as nonlinear viscoelastic incompressible material. Instron 8801 equipment was used for experimental research and ramp-to-constant displacement control test was used for data acquisition. Displacement dependent force relaxation function was obtained from the force extrapolation method and expressed as the explicit combination of time and displacement. Pipkin-Rogers model, which is the direct relation of force and displacement, was obtained and comparison studies between the experimental results and the Pipkin-Rogers results were carried out.
