Interpenetrating network hypothesis

Ronca and Allegra, and independently Flory, advanced the hypothesis that real rubber networks show departures from these theoretical equations as a result of a transition between the two extreme cases of behaviour. In subsequent papers Floryl >l and Flory and Ermanl derived a theory based on this concept. At small deformations the fluctuations of the network junctions are constrained by the extensive interpenetration of neighbouring, but topologically remote chains. The severity of these constraints is characterized by the value of the parameter k (k - 0 corresponds to the phantom network, k = to the affine network). With increasing deformation these constraints become less restrictive in the direction of the principal extension. The parameter t describes the departures from affine transformation of the shape of the domains of constraints. The resulting stress-strain relation also takes the form of Eq. (7) with... 

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