Book reviews

Mechanics of Composite Materials -     

Determination of the rheological characteristics of polymer materials from the static σ-ε curves and creep and relaxation curves

A method is proposed for determining the rheological characteristics of polymer materials from the experimental - curves and the creep and relaxation curves, when the behavior of the material is described exactly and approximately by the equation of a standard solid, together with a method of determining the conditional rheological characteristics when only a certain section of these curves is approximately described by the equation of a standard solid. The proposed method makes it possible to eliminate the ambiguity in the determination of the rheological characteristics due to difficulties in the exact determination of the coordinates of the beginning and end of the static curves. The use of conditional rheological characteristics makes it possible to describe the behavior of polymer materials over a broad time interval under static loading conditions by means of the equation of a standard solid without resorting to the use of complex spectral functions. A relation is established between the spectral viscoelastic functions and the conditional rheological characteristics.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 977–988, 1967     

Dependence of the rheological characteristics of filled polypropylene on filler concentration,loading regime and temperature

The rheological characteristics of polypropylene have been investigated in relation to filler concentration, loading rate in the =wt regime, creep stress and time interval and temperature. A study has been made of the relationship between the changes in the rheological characteristics of the material, determined from - curves obtained from tensile tests at different constant loading rates, creep tests and by acoustical methods, with variation in filler concentration and temperature.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 853–858, September–October, 1968.     

Physical basis and possible applications of nondestructive methods in determining the mechanical properties of polymer materials

The author discusses the desirability of using the law of deformation of a standard solid as the next approximation after Hooke's law for designing plastic structures and parts. The reasons for the variability of the mechanical characteristics of polymer materials and the possibility of determining them by nondestructive methods are examined. The areas of application of defectoscopy and nondestructive testing that may be of interest to planners, designers, and users are outlined.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 334–343, 1967     

Relation between the interlaminar shear modulus and thermal conductivity of oriented glass-reinforced plastics

The relation between the interlaminar shear modulus G of oriented glass-reinforced plastics and their thermal conductivity in a direction orthogonal to the plane of reinforcement is investigated. It is shown that G can be predicted from the measured values of and the bending deformations from and the propagation velocity of ultrasound.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Makhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 985–989, November–December, 1970.     

Relationship between the rheological characteristics of teflon determined for different loading regimes and temperatures

Specimens of teflon investigated in the temperature range from –40 to +60°C at various strain rates and in various loading regimes are used to demonstrate the relationship between changes in the theological properties of a material at constant standard loading rates (in the =vt regime) and the rheological characteristics determined by acoustic methods.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 619–624, 1967Presented on 3 February 1967 at the 4-th All-Union Conference on Strength and Plasticity, Moscow.