Mechanical behavior

Dynamic mechanical tests measure the response or deformation of a material to periodic or varying forces. Generally an applied force and its resulting deformation both vary sinusoidally with time. From such tests it is possible to obtain simultaneously an elastic modulus and mechanical damping, the latter of which gives the amount of energy dissipated as heat during the deformation of the material. 

The behavior of materials under dynamic load is of considerable importance and interest in most mechanical analyses of design problems where these loads exist. The complex workings of the dynamic behavior problem can best be appreciated by summarizing the range of interactions of dynamic loads that exist for all the different types of materials. Dynamic loads involve the interactions of creep and relaxation loads, vibratory and transient fatigue loads, low-velocity impacts measurable sometimes in milliseconds, high-velocity impacts measurable in microseconds, and hypervelocity impacts as summarized in Fig. 2-4. 

Metals are unique under both static and dynamic loads that can be cited as outstanding 

Material behavior have many classifications. Examples are (1) creep, and relaxation behavior with a primary load environment of high or moderate temperatures (2) fatigue, viscoelastic, and elastic range vibration or impact (3) fluidlike flow, as a solid to a gas, which is a very high velocity or hypervelocity impact and (4) crack propagation and environmental embrittlement, as well as ductile and brittle fractures. 

Solid polymers exhibit a wide range of mechanical behavior. At very low molecular weight, a polymer has the mechanical properties of a wax. Above the entanglement transition (or similar molecular weight), the modulus, tensile strength, and elongation to break shows a rapid increase and then levels off. The Young s modulus E (for uniaxial extension) is 

For isotropic polymers, the small strain behavior is specified by the Young s modulus and the Poisson ratio v 

The microstructure of polymers can also be altered by the presence of solid particles such as (inorganic) fillers [13], For example, nano-particles affect the dynamics of their adjacent chains [14], Moreover, fillers can nucleate crystallization of polymers, thereby changing their semi-crystaUine morphology [13], Nano-particles can also form several (nano)structures according to their interaction with the matrix [15]. 

In summary, multi-phase microstructures are very common in polymers. The microstructure determines the properties of the material. Thus material design requires deep knowledge of the mechanisms which govern structure formation and behavior of polymers. 

In this work we focus mainly on the structure and properties of semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymers. Therefore, we confine our discussion only to this class of polymers. 

Probably the most common direct observation method is the microscopy technique [19-24], Microscopes usually scan the surface [20] of the sample. Therefore, the image may not be representative of the whole sample. The other drawback of 

However, application of environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) [26] has made real-time measurements possible. With this technique the structural transitions at the crack tip can be directly monitored during deformation [20, 27-29], ESEM is especially useful for investigation of fracture mechanisms [29] such as crazing and cavitation. However, there is still no work reporting the transitions of the semi-crystalline structure during deformation studied by ESEM. The reason can be the fact that the amorphous phase is eroded from the surface of the uncoated polymer sample by the scanning electron beam [30]. 

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If the concentration of junction points is high enough, even branches will contain branches. Eventually a point is reached at which the amount of branching is so extensive that the polymer molecule becomes a giant three-dimensional network. When this condition is achieved, the molecule is said to be cross-linked. In this case, an entire macroscopic object may be considered to consist of essentially one molecule. The forces which give cohesiveness to such a body are covalent bonds, not intermolecular forces. Accordingly, the mechanical behavior of cross-linked bodies is much different from those without cross-linking. 

No polymer is ever 100% crystalline at best, patches of crystallinity are present in an otherwise amorphous matrix. In some ways, the presence of these domains of crystallinity is equivalent to cross-links, since different chains loop in and out of the same crystal. Although there are similarities in the mechanical behavior of chemically cross-linked and partially crystalline polymers, a significant difference is that the former are irreversibly bonded while the latter are reversible through changes of temperature. Materials in which chemical cross-linking is responsible for the mechanical properties are called thermosetting those in which this kind of physical cross-linking operates, thermoplastic. 

Equivalent mechanical behavior can be achieved by either time (or frequency) or temperature manipulation. As noted in Sec. 3.2, results measured at different temperatures can be reduced to a common temperature to describe response over a wide range of times. We shall consider data reduced to a common temperature in this chapter and discuss the reduction process in Chap. 4. 

At very short times the modulus is on the order of 10" ° N m comparable to ordinary window glass at room temperature. In fact, the mechanical behavior displayed in this region is called the glassy state, regardless of the chemical composition of the specimen. Inorganic and polymeric glasses... 

Since the compliance is essentially the inverse of the modulus, it is not surprising that the same four regions of mechanical behavior show up again here. The data for polystyrene is more fully developed, so we shall examine if. 

The same mechanical behavior would be observed at longer times at lower temperatures. 

An advantage of having the relaxation spectrum defined by Eq. (3.63) is that it can be adapted to expressions like this to calculate mechanical behavior other than that initially measured. 

Alfrey, T., Jr., Mechanical Behavior of High Polymers, Interscience, New York, 1948. 

Between T j, and Tg, depending on the regularity of the polymer and on the experimental conditions, this domain may be anything from almost 100% crystalline to 100% amorphous. The amorphous fraction, whatever its abundance, behaves like a supercooled liquid in this region. The presence of a certain degree of crystallinity mimics the effect of crosslinking with respect to the mechanical behavior of a sample. 

The preceding example of superpositioning is an illustration of the principle of time-temperature equivalency. We referred to this in the last chapter in connection with the mechanical behavior of polymer samples and shall take up the... 

In the last three chapters we have examined the mechanical properties of bulk polymers. Although the structure of individual molecules has not been our primary concern, we have sought to understand the influence of molecular properties on the mechanical behavior of polymeric materials. We have seen, for example, how the viscosity of a liquid polymer depends on the substituents along the chain backbone, how the elasticity depends on crosslinking, and how the crystallinity depends on the stereoregularity of the polymer. In the preceding chapters we took the existence of these polymers for granted and focused attention on their bulk behavior. In the next three chapters these priorities are reversed Our main concern is some of the reactions which produce polymers and the structures of the products formed. 

We noted above that the presence of monomer with a functionality greater than 2 results in branched polymer chains. This in turn produces a three-dimensional network of polymer under certain circumstances. The solubility and mechanical behavior of such materials depend critically on whether the extent of polymerization is above or below the threshold for the formation of this network. The threshold is described as the gel point, since the reaction mixture sets up or gels at this point. We have previously introduced the term thermosetting to describe these cross-linked polymeric materials. Because their mechanical properties are largely unaffected by temperature variations-in contrast to thermoplastic materials which become more fluid on heating-step-growth polymers that exceed the gel point are widely used as engineering materials. 

In Chap. 4 we discussed the crystallizability of polymers and the importance of this property on the mechanical behavior of the bulk sample. Following the logic that leads to Eq. (4.17), the presence of a comonomer lowers T for a polymer. Carrying this further, we can compare a copolymer to an alloy in which each component lowers the melting point of the other until a minimummelting eutectic is produced. Similar trends exist in copolymers. 

JMNNMF Structures and Mechanical Behavior Subcommittee Meeting, CPIA Pubhcation 566, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala., May 1991. 

The resistance to plastic flow can be schematically illustrated by dashpots with characteristic viscosities. The resistance to deformations within the elastic regions can be characterized by elastic springs and spring force constants. In real fibers, in contrast to ideal fibers, the mechanical behavior is best characterized by simultaneous elastic and plastic deformations. Materials that undergo simultaneous elastic and plastic effects are said to be viscoelastic. Several models describing viscoelasticity in terms of springs and dashpots in various series and parallel combinations have been proposed. The concepts of elasticity, plasticity, and viscoelasticity have been the subjects of several excellent reviews (21,22). 

Transitions. Samples containing 50 mol % tetrafluoroethylene with ca 92% alternation were quenched in ice water or cooled slowly from the melt to minimise or maximize crystallinity, respectively (19). Internal motions were studied by dynamic mechanical and dielectric measurements, and by nuclear magnetic resonance. The dynamic mechanical behavior showed that the CC relaxation occurs at 110°C in the quenched sample in the slowly cooled sample it is shifted to 135°C. The P relaxation appears near —25°C. The y relaxation at — 120°C in the quenched sample is reduced in peak height in the slowly cooled sample and shifted to a slightly higher temperature. The CC and y relaxations reflect motions in the amorphous regions, whereas the P relaxation occurs in the crystalline regions. The y relaxation at — 120°C in dynamic mechanical measurements at 1 H2 appears at —35°C in dielectric measurements at 10 H2. The temperature of the CC relaxation varies from 145°C at 100 H2 to 170°C at 10 H2. In the mechanical measurement, it is 110°C. There is no evidence for relaxation in the dielectric data. 

E. A. McChntock and A. S. Argon, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., Reading, Pa., 1966. 

Mechanical Properties. The principal mechanical properties are Hsted in Table 1. The features of HDPE that have the strongest influence on its mechanical behavior are molecular weight, MWD, orientation, morphology, and the degree of branching, which determines resin crystallinity and density. 

C. F. Zorowski and T. Murayama, Proceedings of 1 st International Conference on Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Vol. 5, Society of Material Scientists, Kyoto, Japan, 1972, p. 28. 

The use of PC—ABS blends has grown significantly in the early 1990s. These blends exhibit excellent properties, particularly low temperature ductihty, reduced notch sensitivity, and ease of melt fabrication. The blend morphology (229), ABS composition, thermal history (215), PC content and molecular weight (300), processing conditions, etc, all affect the mechanical behavior of PC—ABS blends. These blends have been most frequently used in automotive and other engineering appHcations. 

Mechanical Behavior of Materials. Different kinds of materials respond differently when they undergo basic mechanical tests. This is illustrated in Eigure 15, which shows stress—strain diagrams for purely viscous and purely elastic materials. With the former, the stress is reheved by viscous flow and is independent of strain. With the latter, there is a direct dependence of stress on strain and the ratio of the two is the modulus E (or G). 

Fig. 44. Thermal mechanical behavior of a styrene—butadiene—styrene block copolymer in nitrogen at —180 to 150°C (280).

Butadiene copolymers are mainly prepared to yield mbbers (see Styrene-butadiene rubber). Many commercially significant latex paints are based on styrene—butadiene copolymers (see Coatings Paint). In latex paint the weight ratio S B is usually 60 40 with high conversion. Most of the block copolymers prepared by anionic catalysts, eg, butyUithium, are also elastomers. However, some of these block copolymers are thermoplastic mbbers, which behave like cross-linked mbbers at room temperature but show regular thermoplastic flow at elevated temperatures (45,46). Diblock (styrene—butadiene (SB)) and triblock (styrene—butadiene—styrene (SBS)) copolymers are commercially available. Typically, they are blended with PS to achieve a desirable property, eg, improved clarity/flexibiHty (see Polymerblends) (46). These block copolymers represent a class of new and interesting polymeric materials (47,48). Of particular interest are their morphologies (49—52), solution properties (53,54), and mechanical behavior (55,56). 

E. H. Kraft and G. I. Dooher, "Mechanical Response of High Performance SiHcon Carbides," presented at the Second International Conference on Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Aug. 16—20, 1976, Boston, Mass., to be pubHshed. 

R. W. Davidge, Mechanical Behavior of Ceramics, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1986. 

Deformation Under Loa.d. The mechanical behavior of coal is strongly affected by the presence of cracks, as shown by the lack of proportionahty between stress and strain in compression tests or between strength and rank. However, tests in triaxial compression indicate that as the confirming pressure is increased different coals tend to exhibit similar values of compressive strength perpendicular to the directions of these confining pressures. Except for anthracites, different coals exhibit small amounts of recoverable and irrecoverable strain underload. 

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