| Abstract: | Nonlinearity in stress-strain behavior under conditions where the strain is completely recoverable is often observed in glassy amorphous polymers. In the present work a suggestion is made that the nonlinearity is often associated with a secondary (β) relaxation process. By means of a model calculation it is shown that the onset of stress saturation of the relaxed or equilibrium compliance associated with localized group motion is a reasonable explanation for the phenomenon. The effect of stress on relaxation times is predicted to have some contribution but to be less important than the effect on the relaxed compliance. |
