Elastomers, viscoelastic behavior measurements

Polymers are viscoelastic materials meaning they can act as liquids, the visco portion, and as solids, the elastic portion. Descriptions of the viscoelastic properties of materials generally falls within the area called rheology. Determination of the viscoelastic behavior of materials generally occurs through stress-strain and related measurements. Whether a material behaves as a viscous or elastic material depends on temperature, the particular polymer and its prior treatment, polymer structure, and the particular measurement or conditions applied to the material. The particular property demonstrated by a material under given conditions allows polymers to act as solid or viscous liquids, as plastics, elastomers, or fibers, etc. This chapter deals with the viscoelastic properties of polymers. 

Measurements of linear and nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of elastomers have a long history. Instead of reviewing the works done in the past by various workers... 

Dynamic mechanical analysis measures changes in mechanical behavior, such as modulus and damping as a function of temperature, time, frequency, stress, or combinations of these parameters. The technique also measures the modulus (stiffness) and damping (energy dissipation) properties of materials as they are deformed under periodic stress. Such measurements provide quantitative and qualitative information about the performance of materials. The technique can be used to evaluate reinforced and unreinforced polymers, elastomers, viscous thermoset liquids, composite coating and adhesives, and materials that exhibit time, frequency, and temperature effects or mechanical properties because of their viscoelastic behavior. 

Nakajima et al. [101] studied the viscoelastic behavior of butadiene-acrylonitrile copol)rmer filled with carbon black. Capillary extrusion measurements with an Instron and dynamic oscillatory measurements with a Rheovibron suggested the occurrence of strain hardening in filled elastomer due to tensile extension causing structural changes in the carbon black filled elastomer. It is possible fliat the structure built by the carbon black in the elastomer increasingly jams against... 

The investigations of model compositions, based on linear elastomers and various fillers, have shown that the yield stress also may be characterized by the value of the complex shear modulus measured at various frequencies. The dependence of the dynamic modulus on the filler concentration characterizes critical concentrations of the filler, above which the viscoelastic behavior of composition drastically changes. Dynamic modulus corresponding to the yield stress does not depend on the matrix viscosity or its nature. This fact indicates a predominant role of the structural frame for rheological properties of filled polymers. 

The purpose of our study was a rheological evaluation of the effect of composition on the properties of ABS resins in the molten state. Steady-state viscosity was determined over a wide range of temperatures and shear rates. The shear modulus in the molten state was determined by measurement of the diameter of the extrudate. ABS resins in the molten state behaved as an amorphous homophase polymer. The effect of the elastomer phase on the viscoelastic properties which characterize the behavior of the continuous matrix, i.e. monomer friction coefficient and molecular weight between entanglements (Me), was calculated by the application of the molecular theories. The significance of these properties in heterophase systems is discussed. 

Stress relaxation experiments involve the measurement of the force required to maintain the deformation produced initially by an applied stress as a function of time. Stress relaxation tests are not performed as often as creep tests because many investigators believe they are less readily understood. The latter point is debatable, and it may only be that the practical aspects of creep measurements are simpler. As will be shown later, all the mechanical parameters are in theory interchangeable, and so all such measurements will contribute to the understanding of viscoelastic theory. Whereas stress relaxation measurements are useful in a general study of polymeric behavior, they are particularly useful in the evaluation of antioxidants in polymers, especially elastomers, because measurements on such systems are relatively easy to perform and are sensitive to bond rupture in the network. 

Usually, sealants and adhesive materials for construction applications are evaluated by looking at the engineering side, butnotthe chemistry of the material. As a result, only tests that measure the mechanical properties are used. Most of the studies on the viscoelastic properties use traditional tests such as tensile testing to obtain data, which can be used in complicated mathematical equations to obtain information on the viscoelastic properties of a material. For example, Tock and co-workers studied the viscoelastic properties of stmctural silicone rubber sealants. According to the author, the behavior of silicone mbber materials subjected to uniaxial stress fields carmotbe predicted by classical mechanical theory which is based on linear stress-strain relationship. Nor do theories based on ideal elastomers concepts work well when extensions exceed... 

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