Mechanical behaviour of polymers at high rates of strain

Polymer, 2005

Measurements are presented of the compressive stress-strain behaviour of polycarbonate (PC) and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) at strain rates from 10 K4 to 10 4 s K1 at room temperature, and temperatures from K50 to C150 8C at 10 3 s K1 . These results, obtained using a split Hopkinson pressure bar and Instron testing machine, are supported by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements on the materials. Previous researchers have observed that the yield stress of these materials is bilinearly dependent on the logarithm of strain rate. The data presented here show that the bilinearity is due to the movement of low order transitions in the materials, so that they occur at temperatures above room temperature at the higher strain rates. In particular, these transitions are the b transition in PC, and the glass transition in PVDF. In addition, Appendix A presents measurements of a high strain rate Poisson's ratio of polycarbonate and its evolution with strain. q

EPJ Web of Conferences, 2012

An experimental and analytical investigation has been made into the mechanical behaviour of two poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) polymers -an un-plasticized PVC and a diisononyl phthalate (DINP)-plasticized PVC. Measurements of the compressive stress-strain behaviour of the PVCs at strain rates ranging from 10 -3 to 10 3 s -1 and temperatures from -60 to 100 • C are presented. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis was also performed in order to understand the material transitions observed in compression testing as the strain rate is increased. This investigation develops a better understanding of the interplay between the temperature dependence and rate dependence of polymers, with a focus on locating the temperature and rate-dependent material transitions that occur during high rate testing.

Polymer, 2005

This study is concerned with the finite, large strain deformation behavior of polymeric glasses. True stress-strain curves in uniaxial compression obtained for five different polymeric glasses: polycarbonate, polystyrene, poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide), and linear and cross-linked poly(methylmethacrylate), revealed a strain-hardening response during plastic deformation that is strain-rate dependent and deviates from neo-Hookean behavior. An empirical modification of the so-called compressible Leonov model by a strain dependent activation volume is suggested, which describes the strain-rate dependent large strain behavior of these glassy polymers in good agreement with experimental data. q

2012

Polymers are increasingly used in impact and complex high rate loading applications. Generally, the mechanical response of glassy polymers under high strain rates has been determined in compression. Some research programs have studied the combined effects of temperature and strain rate, still primarily in compression, providing better understanding of the physics behind the observed response and enhancing the models for these materials. However, limited data are available in tension, and even more limited are data describing both the compressive and tensile response of the same glassy polymer. This paper investigates the compressive and tensile response of glassy polymers across a range of stain rates from quasi-static to dynamic. Experimental results from dynamic mechanical analysis, quasi-static compression and tension, and split Hopkinson tension/pressure bars on several representative glassy polymers will be presented. The pressure dependant yield in these materials will be discussed through comparison of the tensile and compressive yield stresses.

Polymer Testing, 2001

In this work new insights are presented on the measurement of the tangent and secant moduli from stress-strain curves in polymeric systems. Expressions for the strain-rate and strain dependence of both moduli are derived for systems characterised by a distribution of relaxation times. The equivalent frequency of the stress-strain experiments is shown to be dependent on the strain rate and on the strain at which the measurements are carried out. Such considerations enable using quasi-static tensile stress-strain tests to study relaxational processes in polymeric materials. The tensile behaviour of a 30% glass fibre reinforced polyamide 6 was characterised at different strain rates and temperatures, covering the glass transition region. A master curve of the tangent modulus as a function of strain rate was successfully constructed by simple horizontal shifting of the isothermal data. The temperature dependence of the shift factors was well described by the WLF equation. It was also possible to fit the master curve considering a polymeric system with a distribution of relaxation times, relevant parameters such as the KWW β parameter being extracted. The results were found to be consistent with dynamic mechanical analysis results. 

Polymer Engineering & Science, 2013

2012

This work has been submitted for publication in the interest of the scientific and technical exchange. Publication of this report does not constitute approval or disapproval of the ideas or findings.

AIP Conference Proceedings, 2017

This paper reviews the literature on the response of polymers to high strain rate deformation. The main focus is on the experimental techniques used to characterize this response. The paper includes a small number of examples as well as references to experimental data over a wide range of rates, which illustrate the key features of rate dependence in these materials; however this is by no means an exhaustive list. The aim of the paper is to give the reader unfamiliar with the subject an overview of the techniques available with sufficient references from which further information can be obtained. In addition to the 'well established' techniques of the Hopkinson bar, Taylor Impact and Transverse impact, a discussion of the use of time-temperature superposition in interpreting and experimentally replicating high rate response is given, as is a description of new techniques in which mechanical parameters are derived by directly measuring wave propagation in specimens; these are particularly appropriate for polymers with low wave speeds. The vast topic of constitutive modelling is deliberately excluded from this review.

ACS Macro Letters, 2014

The origin of high mechanical stresses in large deformation of polymer glasses has been elusive because both plasticity and elasticity take place. In this work on the nature of the mechanical responses, we carry out uniaxial compression experiments to make simultaneous mechanical and thermal measurements of polycarbonate. Our results confirm that two factors contribute to the growing mechanical stress in the postyield regime, which is known as "strain hardening". Besides plastic deformation that is intersegmental in origin, chain tension as an intrasegmental component contributes considerably to the measured stress in post-yield. Such a conclusion modifies the previous consensus regarding the nature of strain hardening in mechanical deformation of polymer glasses.

Polymer Engineering & Science, 2013