A model for the nonisothermal behavior of viscoelastic media

Summary A new constitutive model is derived for the viscoelastic behavior of polymers under non-isothermal loading. The model extends the concept of adaptive links (entanglements) between polymeric molecules to thermoviscoelastic media. By using experimental data for Nylon-6 and polyisobutylene in the vicinity of the glass-transition temperature, we find parameters of the model and study their dependence on temperature. The model is employed for the numerical analysis of the material response to time-periodic loads under isothermal conditions and to time-varying loads under heating. The results of numerical simulation demonstrate fair agreement with experimental data. Accepted for publication 23 May 1996