Thermal conductivity of amorphous polymers

The dependence of the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of amorphous polymers on pressure and temperature has been experimentally determined.     

Biaxial orientation of amorphous linear polymers

The mechanical properties of biaxially oriented polymethyl methacrylate, obtained on a broad range of stretch ratios and under a variety of orientation conditions, have been investigated. There is a fundamental difference between the variation of the forced elastic limit with increase in stretch ratio, which is monotone increasing, and the variation of such properties as the brittle strength, brittle temperature, true strength and elongation at break, which have an optimum at a certain stretch ratio. It is shown that the presence of an optimum is associated with the transformation of the supermolecular structures in the process of biaxial high-elastic deformation. A relation is established between the mechanical properties of biaxially oriented polymethyl methacrylate (orientation hardening) and the density of the molecular network.For communication 1 see [3].Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 586–593, July–August, 1971.     

Strength of rigid oriented amorphous polymers

A method is proposed for obtaining uniaxially oriented specimens of amorphous unfractionated polymer with a particular oriented chain length. The length of the oriented chains and their molecular weight M_c depend importantly on the conditions under which the polymer is stretched. It is shown that the strength of specimens obtained by stretching at constant M_c increases linearly with the relative fraction of oriented phase. The slope of this linear relation increases with the length of the oriented molecular chains. The ratio of the maximum strength of fully oriented polystyrene to the strength of the unoriented material is found to be 78 instead of the value of 6 given in [6].Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 1048–1053, 1967     

Biaxial orientation of amorphous linear polymers

The dependence of the birefringence and orientation stress on the biaxial stretch ratio and orientation conditions has been experimentally investigated. The temperature dependence of these characteristics is explained in terms of the network structure of amorphous polymers. It is shown that the transformations of the supermolecular structures in the process of biaxial orientation depend on the orientation temperature — at higher temperatures better organized structures are formed. There is a formal relationship between the effect of orientation temperature on supermolecular structure formation and on the relaxation process responsible for the formation of a more thermally stable molecular network.Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 17–23, January–February, 1971.     

Self-adhesion of amorphous polymers and their miscible blends

The amorphous film surfaces of polystyrene (PS), poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO), and their miscible blends are brought into overlap contact below the glass transition temperature T _g for 10 min and 24 h in order to obtain PS—PS, PPO—PPO, and blend—blend self-adhesive joints. It is shown that after the contact of the blend surfaces, i.e., when the molecules of both PS and PPO are present at the interface, it is possible to attain higher values of shear strength as compared with those at PS—PS and PPO—PPO interfaces. This points to the contribution of a specific interaction between the segments of PS and PPO to the strength development at the interface. Submitted to the 11th International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, June 11–15, 2000). Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 127–135, 2000.     

Relaxation processes in oriented amorphous polymers

Values of the birefringence and high-elastic strain are presented for amorphous polystyrene subjected to stretching and annealing. The laws of the relaxation processes that occur in linear polymers under these conditions are discussed.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 323–329, 1966     

Modelling structural recovery in amorphous polymers

Constitutive equations are derived for linear viscoelastic response and enthalpy relaxation in amorphous polymers in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature. According to the concept of cooperative relaxation, a glassy polymer is treated as an ensemble of weakly-connected relaxing regions. Mechanical relaxation in a region occurs when the thermally activated flow unit reaches some liquid-like state. Structural recovery is modeled as a sequence of hops in which rearranging regions change their traps. A constitutive model for the linear viscoelastic behavior and enthalpy relaxation in a glassy polymer is validated using experimental data in mechanical and calorimetric tests on polycarbonate and poly (methyl methacrylate). Fair agreement is demonstrated between observations and results of numerical simulation.     

Relaxation processes in oriented amorphous and crystalline polymers

Studies were made of the experimental data on the relaxation processes leading to the preferential molecular disorientation and uniaxially drawn amorphous and crystalline polymers.A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 787–792, September–October, 1972.     

Lifetime of amorphous polymers under intermittent loading

The lifetimes of two types of amorphous polymers (polyvinyl chloride and plasticized epoxy resin) under intermittent loading have been investigated. It is established that the lifetime, determined without allowance for recovery time, is less than that under constant load. Under periodic loading at constant stress the lifetime varies with the loading regime. For each of the investigated polymers a lifetime minimum is observed at a certain duration of the loading and recovery periods.Higher Chemical Technology Institute, Sofia. Translated from Mikhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 912–916, September–October, 1971.     

Intermolecular interactions in fiber-forming linear polymers and certain of their mechanical properties

Values of the specific volumetric intermolecular interaction energies of a series of linear polymers have been calculated on the basis of data on the interatomic and intermolecular interactions of the functional groups in the polymer molecules. It is shown that the specific volumetric intermolecular interaction energy is closely correlated with the elastic and relaxation properties of the polymers, which makes it possible to predict a series of mechanical properties of chemical fibers.Leningrad Branch, All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Synthetic Fibers. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 790–795, September–October, 1971.     

On the theory of orientation of linear amorphous polymers

The previously derived orientation equations are solved for uniaxial extension at constant true stress, unloading, stress relaxation, and biaxial orientation at constant strain rate. The dependence of the birefringence of biaxially oriented PMMA on the magnitude and conditions of preliminary orientation has been experimentally investigated. There is good qualitative agreement between the theoretical and experimental results.For communication 1 see [1].Lenin Moscow State Pedagogic Institute. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 1, pp. 14–21, January–February, 1973.     

A generalized thermal conductivity dependence for amorphous polymers

A method of treating the experimental data for the thermal conductivity of amorphous polymers is presented. By means of the proposed method of treatment an invariant thermal conductivity curve for a wide range of temperatures is derived.Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 912–913, September–October, 1972.     

On the theory of biaxial orientation of amorphous polymers

The macromolecule orientation distribution function for biaxial orientation is calculated on the basis of a network model of a linear amorphous polymer. The dependence of the distribution function on the biaxial stretch ratio, orientation temperature, and certain other factors is investigated. A relation is established between the distribution function and the experimentally observed birefringence. The birefringence of biaxially oriented polymethyl methacrylate is measured in relation to the degree of deformation. The experimental data are compared with theory.Moscow Lenin State Pedagogical Institute, Problem Laboratory of Polymer Physics. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 771–779, September–October, 1970.     

The theory of orientational drawing of linear amorphous polymers

On the basis of modern ideas on the structure of linear, amorphous polymers a model of a molecular, three-dimensional network with temporary cross-links and van der Waals interaction between the chains is presented. Using this model as a starting point, a differential equation for the deformation of a linear, amorphous polymer in the viscoelastic state is derived. The differential equation for the orientation of a linear, amorphous polymer, which describes the evolution of distribution functions for statistical segments, is obtained. Previously obtained results follow from this theory as special cases.V. I. Lenin State Pedagogic Institute, Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1021–1028, November–December, 1974.     

Simulation of thermo-mechanical loading processes on amorphous thermoplastic polymers

A constitutive model for the thermo-mechanical behavior of amorphous thermoplastic polymers is presented that accounts for the dependence of the macromolecular network and entropic hardening on large temperature changes. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Supramolecular structure and incipient cracks in three-dimensional stitched amorphous polymers

The electron-microscopic method was used to study the structure of unsaturated polyester films. The initial submicrocracks developing in the loaded films were studies by the low-angle x-ray diffraction method. It is shown that for these polymers a typical feature is the globular structure with a globule diameter of 10³–3·10³ Å, and the transverse dimension of the submicrocracks developing under the action of a load practically coincides with the globule diameter.     

Effect of the physical state on tearing of amorphous polymers

The temperature dependence of the basic tear characteristics of deformation and failure of SKS-85 copolymer in the range from Tg to T>T_f is examined. It is established that the total work done in tearing the polymer in the brittle state is determined by the work of deformation up to separation of the specimen into two parts. In contrast to this, the total work done in tearing the polymer in the high-elastic state is determined mainly by the work of formation of the tear surface.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 71–77, 1965