Probing the viscoelastic response of glassy polymer films using atomic force microscopy

The mechanical properties of glassy films and glass surfaces have been studied using an atomic force microscope (AFM) through various imaging modes and measuring methods. In this paper, we discuss the viscoelastic response of a glassy surface probed using an AFM. We analyzed the force-distance curves measured on a glassy film or a glassy surface at temperatures near the glass transition temperature, Tg, using a Burgers model. We found that the material's characteristics of reversible anelastic response and viscous creep can be extracted from a force-distance curve. Anelastic response shifts the repulsive force-distance curve while viscous creep strongly affects the slope of the repulsive force-distance curve. When coupled with capillary force, due to the condensation of a thin layer of liquid film at the tip-surface joint, the anelasticity and viscous creep can alter the curve significantly in the attractive region.     

Constitutive modeling of polymers accounting for their hyperelasticity,plasticity, creep and viscoelastic relaxation

The hyperelastic Yeoh model has been generalized to account for creep, plasticity and viscoelasticity of polymers. The general tensorial model developed is applied to several rheometric situations: the tensile test used to measure the stress-strain curve in tension, as well as the creep and recovery tests. The resulting equations are compared to the experimental results acquired in the present work for several monolithic synthetic fibers used as specimens. The comparison revealed that the proposed phenomenological rheological constitutive equation is capable of reproducing the experimental data with a uniformly valid set of physical parameters. Moreover, it was possible to accurately predict the residual plastic deformation of the fibers.     

Creep loading response and complete loading–unloading investigation of industrial anti-vibration systems

This article presents engineering approaches to evaluate creep loading response and a complete loading–unloading procedure for rubber components used as anti-vibration applications. A damage function for creep loading and a rebound resilience function for mechanical unloading are introduced into hyperelastic models independently. Hence, a hyperelastic model can be extended for both creep and unloading evaluations. A typical rubber product and a dumbbell specimen were selected to validate the proposed approaches. It has been demonstrated that the predictions offered by the new models are consistent with the experimental data. In addition, a loading procedure using the same final value, with and without involving unloading, prior to a creep test can produce different results. The proposed approach can capture this phenomenon which was observed in the literature. The proposed approach can also be easily incorporated into commercial finite element software (e.g., Abaqus). It is demonstrated that the proposed method may be used for anti-vibration products at an appropriate design stage.     

Using developed creep constitutive model for optimum design of HDPE pipes

Unlike metal pipes, high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes are not susceptible to erosion and corrosion. However, the most important mechanical feature of the HDPE pipes is that this material creeps even at room temperature. Therefore, it is essential to study the creep behavior of this material in order to develop a model. In this paper, creep behavior of HDPE at different temperature and stress levels has been experimentally studied to obtain the creep constitutive parameters of the material. These parameters are used to predict the creep behavior of different structures such as HDPE pipes. For this purpose, a number of specimens have been machined from industrial manufactured pipe walls. Uniaxial creep tests have been carried out and creep strain curves with time for each test were recorded. Then, a constitutive model is proposed for HDPE based on the experimental data and optimization methods. The results of this model have been compared with the test data and good agreement is observed. The developed constitutive model and reference stress method (RSM) were used to produce graphs which provide optimum creep lifetime and design conditions for HDPE pipes that are subjected to combined internal pressure and rotation. These graphs can facilitate the design process of HDPE pipes.     

Creep behavior and lifetime prediction of PMMA immersed in liquid scintillator

The creep behavior of PMMA immersed in liquid scintillator at room temperature was experimentally studied with a new type of creep test machine. Both short-term and creep-rupture tensile tests at eight stress levels were performed. A master curve of creep compliance at a reference stress was obtained according to the Time-Stress Superposition Principle. The master curve was compared with the actual long-term creep curve. It demonstrates that the two curves coincide well at short times. However, the actual creep data shows a higher creep rate as time goes on. The actual lifetime is much shorter than that predicted by the master curve. Furthermore, the relationship between long-term creep limited strength and service life was determined. The results can be used to guide the safety design of PMMA vessels for application in a neutrino observatory.     

Compliance and viscosity of magnetic tape layers

Viscoelastic characteristics of polymer materials used in a fourth-generation archival magnetic tape are discussed. Results from creep experiments are presented, as well as transformed results from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Time-temperature superposition and frequency-temperature superposition are used to predict properties beyond time and frequency ranges used for experiments. The role of constituent polymers in determining fundamental compliance and viscous characteristics of the magnetic tape layers is described. Comparisons are made between creep-compliance and dynamic-compliance. Viscosity parameters from Kelvin-Voigt curve fits of creep data are also compared with complex viscosity from DMA.     

The effect of electron irradiation on the structure and mechanical properties of highly drawn polyethylene fibers

Two very different high-modulus polyethylene fiber samples, a low molecular weight melt-spun and drawn fiber, and a high molecular weight gel-spun and drawn fiber, have been subjected to electron beam irradiation to various doses in vacuum and in the presence of acetylene. The gel content after irradiation in acetylene was found to be much greater than for an equivalent dose in vacuum. The gel content–dose relationship could not be described by either Charlesby–Pinner analysis or the Inokuti equation. This is attributed to the polydispersity and the complications introduced by the unique morphologies of highly drawn fibers. Following previous studies, the tensile creep behavior was interpreted in terms of a model comprising two thermally activated processes in parallel, a low stress process relating to the amorphous network, and a high stress process relating to the continuous crystal fraction. Analysis of the creep behavior of the melt-spun, low molecular weight fiber irradiated in vacuum revealed crosslinking in the amorphous regions and chain scission in the crystal. Chain scission was found to be much reduced when irradiating in acetylene, for which a mechanism has been proposed. The creep rates and activation volumes of the high molecular weight, gel-spun fiber were found to be significantly lower, probably due to the unique morphology. In this case the dominant effect of irradiation on the mechanical properties can be attributed to chain scission rather than crosslinking.     

Effect of crosslink density on the creep behavior of natural rubber vulcanizates

Torsional creep measurements on four natural rubber vulcanizates, crosslinked to different degrees, were carried out in the temperature range from ?50 to 90°C. This investigation complements the studies on identical samples of the stress relaxation behavior by Chasset and Thirion and of the dynamic mechanical response by Ferry, Mancke, Maekawa, ōyanagi, and Dickie. The creep measurements reported are shown to be in agreement with the stress relaxation results. In addition to the usual temperature reduction, a superposed curve was obtained for the long time response using the apparent molecular weight between crosslinks, M_c, as a reduction variable. The variation in viscoelastic response with crosslink density is interpreted as a restrictive action of the chemical crosslinks on the transient entanglement network.     

Mechanical properties of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) foils in use for neutrino detector project

The use of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) foils as engineering materials for aerospace, solar thermal collector and neutrino detector applications has attracted considerable attention in recent decades. Mechanical properties are indispensable for analyzing corresponding structural behavior to meet the demands of safety and serviceability. In this paper, uniaxial tensile tests taking into account loading speeds, uniaxial tensile cyclic tests in terms of stress amplitude and loading cycles and creep tests considering loading stress and time were carried out to characterize mechanical properties. For uniaxial tensile properties, elastic modulus, yield stress, breaking strength and elongation were analyzed in detail. It is found that these mechanical properties except breaking elongation increased with loading speeds and that mechanical properties obtained in transverse direction were more sensitive than those obtained in machine direction. For cyclic properties, elastic modulus and ratcheting strain tended to be stable after certain cycles, demonstrating that cyclic elastic moduli were more suitable for analyzing structural behavior than those obtained in uniaxial tensile experiments. For creep properties, apparent strain at 6 MPa suggested that special attention was necessary for analyzing structural behavior if maximum stress was larger than 6 MPa. In general, this study could provide useful observations and values for understanding mechanical properties of FEP foils.     

Fracture behavior of PBX simulation subject to combined thermal and mechanical loads

The fracture behavior and mechanical properties of a Polymer Bonded Explosives (PBX) simulation material were studied using the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method. The fracture mechanism was analyzed as the material was subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loads. The macroscopic fracture mode changed from mainly shear action to a combination of extension and shear action, whereas the microscopic fracture changed from cleavage fracture and transcrystalline rupture to interfacial debonding, breaking of filler particles and a combination of transcrystalline and intercrystalline rupture. Micro-analysis of the creep properties showed the random nature of initial damage and the interaction between creep, damage and nearby damage, were the main reasons for the local creep strain repetition increase. During the process of high temperature creep, extensive cracks are first formed followed by the initiation and extension of shear cracks, eventually joining and causing a macroscopic fracture within the material. The main microscopic fracture mode has been found to be intercrystalline cracking and binder tearing failure.     

Predictable behavior of smart materials (Cu-Zn-Al SMA)

Reliability is a critical word in industrial applications of Shape Memory Alloys. Accurate and reproducible transformation hysteresis cycles and internal loops were obtained in single crystals using a high resolution automatized equipment. From a mechanical model formulated for a single martensite plate, the shape of the hysteresis cycle is obtained by generalizing the representation toN plates. The observed time effects on the hysteresis loops related to diffusion processes were also taken into account. It allows to explain the martensite recoverable creep and the micromemory effects. Also, the room temperature effects on the parent phase (for instance, summer to winter) acting over the transformation temperature are quantified.Research carried out under the project NATO 920452. Partial support from CICYT is gratefully acknowledged. V. T. acknowledges Dir. Pol. Terr. (Generalitat of Catalonia) for useful support. Fruitful discussions with Drs. F. C. Lovey and J. L. Pelegrina of CAB-Argentina (EEC-ALA/MED contract) are acknowledged.     

High temperature creep behavior of phosphoric acid‐polybenzimidazole gel membranes

This work investigates the effects of polymer solids content and macromolecular structure on the high temperature creep behavior of polybenzimidazole (PBI) gel membranes imbibed with phosphoric acid (PA) after preparation via a polyphosphoric acid (PPA) mediated sol‐gel process Low‐solids, highly acid‐doped PBI membranes demonstrate outstanding fuel cell performance under anhydrous, ambient pressure, and high temperature (120–200 °C) operating conditions. However, PBI membranes are susceptible to creep under compressive loads at elevated temperatures, so their long‐term mechanical durability is a major concern. Here, we report results for the creep behavior of PBI membranes subject to compression at 180 °C. For para‐ and meta‐PBI homopolymers, increasing polymer solids content results in lower creep compliance and higher extensional viscosity, which may be rationalized by increasing chain density in the sol‐gel network. Comparing various homo‐ and copolymers at similar solids loading, differences in creep behavior may be rationalized in terms of chain–chain and chain‐solvent interactions that control macromolecular solubility and stiffness in the PA solvent. The results demonstrate the feasibility of improving the mechanical properties of PA‐doped PBI membranes by control of polymer solids content and rational design of PBI macromolecular structure. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1527–1538     

Stress-dependent dynamic compliance spectra approach to the nonlinear viscoelastic response of polymers

The present work reports a discrete, stress-dependent dynamic compliance spectra method which may be used to predict the mechanical response of nonlinear viscoelastic polymers during strain-defined processes. The method is based on the observation that the real and complex parts of the discrete dynamic compliance frequency components obtained from creep measurements are smooth, easily fit functions of stress. Comparisons between experimental measurements and model calculations show that the model exhibits excellent quantitative agreement with the basis creep measurements at all experimental stress levels. The model exhibits good quantitative agreement with stress relaxation measurements at moderate levels of applied strain. However, the model underestimates the experimental stress relaxation at an applied strain of 3.26%. The stress relaxation error appears to be a real material effect resulting from the different strain character of creep and stress relaxation tests. The model provides a good quantitative agreement with experimental constant strain rate measurements up to approximately 4% strain, after which the model underestimates the experimental flow stress. This effect is explained by the time dependence of the stress-activated configurational changes necessary for large strains in glassy polymers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. B Polym. Phys. 36: 2301–2309, 1998     

A statistical approach to characterize the viscoelastic creep compliances of a vinyl ester polymer

The objective of this study was to develop a model to predict the viscoelastic material functions of a vinyl ester (VE) polymer with variations in its experimentally obtained material properties under combined isothermal and mechanical loading. Short-term tensile creep experiments were conducted at three temperatures below the glass transition temperature of the VE polymer, with 10 replicates for each test configuration. The measured creep strain versus time responses were used to determine the creep compliances using the generalized viscoelastic constitutive equation with a Prony series representation. The variation in the creep compliances of a VE polymer was described by formulating the probability density functions (PDFs) and the corresponding cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the creep compliances using a two-parameter Weibull distribution. Both Weibull scale and shape parameters of the creep compliance distributions were shown to be time and temperature dependent. Two-dimensional quadratic Lagrange interpolation functions were used to characterize the Weibull parameters to obtain the PDFs and, subsequently, the CDFs of the creep compliances for the complete design temperature range during steady state creep. At each test temperature, creep compliance curves were obtained for constant CDF values and compared with the experimental data. The predicted creep compliances of the selected VE polymer in the design space are in good agreement with the experimental data for all three test temperatures.     

Creep life evaluation of aluminum conductor composite core utilized in high voltage electric transmission

The creep life of aluminum conductor composite core (ACCC) utilized in high voltage electric transmission was investigated using an experimental method based on the equivalence relationship. First, the time-temperature-stress equivalence relationship was developed using the time-temperature and the time-stress equivalence relationships. Then, tensile creep experiments were conducted under different temperatures and different stress levels to obtain the strain-time curves of the ACCC. Finally, the creep strain master curve was obtained using the experimental data based on the time-temperature-stress equivalence relationship, allowing prediction of ACCC creep life. The results will play an important role in evaluation of the long-term characteristics of the ACCC for engineering applications.     

热塑性聚合物复合材料蠕变性能的综述

热塑性聚合物复合材料(TPCs)由于其力学性能优异、产量巨大,并具有价格优势,已被作为重要的结构材料得到了广泛的应用.然而,由于聚合物的粘弹本性,其不可避免地会在外力的作用下产生随着时间延长而增加的形变,即蠕变.这种作用将对材料造成永久形变以及不可恢复的破坏,从而限制材料的应用.本文通过对TPCs蠕变的研究综述,详细探讨了TPCs蠕变的机理特征,分析了各类因素(诸如分子结构、填料、应力、温度等)对TPCs蠕变作用的影响规律.在此基础上,简明扼要的分析并提出了有助于获得抗蠕变性能优异的TPCs的方法.     

Theoretical analysis of centrifugal dewatering of superabsorbent hydrogels using Terzaghi-Voigt combined model

This paper presents results of experimental work carried out to study the centrifugal dewatering behaviors of superabsorbent hydrogels. Taking the creep deformation of the hydrogels into consideration and assuming that the mechanical properties of gel network can be represented by Terzaghi-Voigt combined model, the basic differential equation expressing the centrifugal dewatering of superabsorbent hydrogels is solved. The progress of centrifugal dewatering is represented by an average consolidation ratio U_c as in mechanical expression. The agreement between calculated and experimental U_c is satisfactory when the creep deformation of the material is considered. Consistent with mechanical expression and electro-osmotic dewatering, as the driving force for centrifugal dewatering increases, the modified consolidation coefficient of the hydrogel network C_e also increases. Effectiveness of centrifugal dewatering, expressed as a relative difference between the initial void ratio and final void ratio, increases with the rotational speed. For a given rotational speed, the final void ratio remains constant regardless of the initial weight of the gel. On the other hand, as the rotational speed of the centrifuge gets higher, the final void ratio decreases for all initial weights of the gel investigated in the current study. The magnitude of creep deformation B depends upon the amount of initial weight of the hydrogel. For a given rotational speed of the centrifuge, the magnitude of creep deformation becomes larger as the initial amount of hydrogel is increased.     

Determination of the Poisson’s ratio of viscoelastic materials based on the linear rheological model using instrumented indentation

Based on the linear rheological constitutive model that is used to describe viscoelastic-plastic behavior of viscoelastic materials, a formula of the Poisson’s ratio was deduced according to the relationship between the shear creep compliance and tensile compliance. Instrumented indentation under various loading conditions and universal creep tests were performed on polyamide 12 samples to obtain the relevant rheological parameters. Results show that the Poisson’s ratio for a step load indentation can obtain a constant but overrated value. However, the Poisson’s ratio approaches an asymptotic value and an accurate value can be gained at a certain loading rate.     

The effect of specific nucleation on tensile mechanical behaviour of isotactic polypropylene

Commercial-grade isotactic polypropylene was modified with a specific β-nucleation agent NJ-Star (N,N^′-dicyclohexylnaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxamide) in concentrations 0.03, 0.10 wt.% and with a specific α-nucleating agent Millad 3988 (1,2:3,4-bis-O-(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene)sorbitol) in a concentration of 1.0 wt.%. Specimens for mechanical studies were prepared by injection moulding. Two types of tensile mechanical testing were performed at room temperature: (1) stress-strain test encompassing the plastic behaviour well behind the yield point and (2) tensile creep in the region of non-linear viscoelasticity. The results derived from the stress-strain traces show a distinct decrease in Young's modulus and yield stress for samples containing the crystalline β-phase as compared with non-nucleated and α-nucleated samples. This decrease was more pronounced with samples containing the lower β-nucleant concentrations (0.03 wt.%). Higher compliance of specimens containing the β-phase was also manifested in their creep behaviour. However, the creep rate of the specimen with the higher nucleant content (0.10 wt.%) did not rise with time so that its creep curve intersected the creep curves of non-nucleated and α-nucleated samples. Thus, at creep times longer than 1000 min, the sample with 0.1 wt.% of the β-nucleant showed a lower compliance than non-nucleated polypropylene and at 10 000 min reached the compliance of the α-nucleated sample. The different softening effect of the β-phase in the high-strain and low-strain regions has been ascribed to a specific structure of the amorphous interlayer induced by the presence of the β-crystallites.     

Modeling mechanical aging shift factors in glassy polymers during nonisothermal physical aging. I. Experiments and KAHR‐ate model prediction

This article presents experimental results and model predictions of the mechanical response of polymers during nonisothermal physical aging. The nonisothermal temperature history leads to a complex evolution in the aging behavior of the material. To characterize this response, sequential creep tests of polyether‐ether‐ketone (PEEK) and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) films are performed at various aging times using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. The resulting strain histories are analyzed to determine discrete aging shift factors (a_te) for each of the creep tests. The nonisothermal aging response is then predicted using the KAHR‐a_te model, which combines the KAHR model of volume recovery with a suitable linear relationship between aging shift factors and specific volume. The KAHR‐a_te model can be utilized to both predict aging response or to determine necessary model parameters from a set of aging shift factor data. For the PEEK and PPS materials considered in the current study, predictions of mechanical response are demonstrated to be in good agreement with the experimental results for several thermal histories. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 340–352, 2009