Mechanical property measurement viscoelasticity

The radiation and temperature dependent mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials (modulus and loss) are of great interest throughout the plastics, polymer, and rubber from initial design to routine production. There are a number of laboratory research instruments are available to determine these properties. All these hardness tests conducted on polymeric materials involve the penetration of the sample under consideration by loaded spheres or other geometric shapes [1]. Most of these tests are to some extent arbitrary because the penetration of an indenter into viscoelastic material increases with time. For example, standard durometer test (the "Shore A") is widely used to measure the static "hardness" or resistance to indentation. However, it does not measure basic material properties, and its results depend on the specimen geometry (it is difficult to make available the identity of the initial position of the devices on cylinder or spherical surfaces while measuring) and test conditions, and some arbitrary time must be selected to compare different materials. 

There are two further related sets of tests that can be used to give information on the mechanical properties of viscoelastic polymers, namely creep and stress relaxation. In a creep test, a constant load is applied to the specimen and the elongation is measured as a function of time. In a stress relaxation test, the specimen is strained quickly to a fixed amount and the stress needed to maintain this strain is also measured as a function of time. 

Complex Modulus A representation of the dynamic mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials. The real part of the complex modulus, the component in phase with the measuring frequency, is called the storage modulus and the imaginary part, the component out of phase with the measuring or driving frequency, is called the loss modulus. 

ANSI S2.22-1998, Resonance Method for Measuring the Dynamical Mechanical Properties of Viscoelastic Materials. 

Measurement of storage modulus Measurement of viscoelastic and mechanical properties Measurement of glass transition temperature... 

Much more information can be obtained by examining the mechanical properties of a viscoelastic material over an extensive temperature range. A convenient nondestmctive method is the measurement of torsional modulus. A number of instmments are available (13—18). More details on use and interpretation of these measurements may be found in references 8 and 19—25. An increase in modulus value means an increase in polymer hardness or stiffness. The various regions of elastic behavior are shown in Figure 1. Curve A of Figure 1 is that of a soft polymer, curve B of a hard polymer. To a close approximation both are transpositions of each other on the temperature scale. A copolymer curve would fall between those of the homopolymers, with the displacement depending on the amount of hard monomer in the copolymer (26—28). 

Figures 4 and 5 give a broad indication of the relevant biomechanical properties of a number of flow sensitive biomaterials. In the case of the data shown in Fig. 5, the surface mechanical properties are lumped into a single measure of the surface integrity. Admittedly, in view of what has been said in the introduction about the viscoelastic nature of the wall material, the information given in Figs. 4 and 5 are oversimplistic. The data in Fig. 5 are based on reported critical minimum stresses (often expressed in terms of the mean bulk fluid stresses) at which physical damage is first observed. Figure 6 gives an indication of the...

In contrast to the mature instrumental techniques discussed above, a hitherto nonexistent class of techniques will require substantial development effort. The new instruments will be capable of measuring the thermal (e.g., glass transition temperatures for amorphous or semicrystalline polymers and melting temperatures for materials in the crystalline phase), chemical, and mechanical (e.g., viscoelastic) properties of nanoscale films in confined geometries, and their creation will require rethinking of conventional methods that are used for bulk measurements. 

Rheological Properties Measurements. The viscoelastic behavior of the UHMWPE gel-like systems was studied using the Rheometric Mechanical Spectrometer (RMS 705). A cone and plate fixture (radius 1.25 cm cone angle 9.85 x 10" radian) was used for the dynamic frequency sweep, and the steady state shear rate sweep measurements. In order to minimize the error caused by gap thickness change during the temperature sweep, the parallel plates fixture (radius 1.25 cm gap 1.5 mm) was used for the dynamic temperature sweep measurements. 

The mechanical properties of many types of clots have been measured, but the origin of clot viscoelasticity is a mystery. Factor Xllla-induced crosslinking sites have been identified in the primary sequence, but the structure of the crosslinked C-terminal 7 chains is a matter of debate and that of the a chains is unknown. The biochemistry of fibrinolysis has been determined, but less is known of the physical mechanisms involved or of the interactions of regulatory systems. 

The results of measurements of the dependencies G (w,t) for three circular frequencies w0 = 27tf0, wi= 4rcwo, and w2 = 16jtwo are shown in Fig. 3.1. The lack of coincidence in the shapes of die time dependencies of the dynamic modulus components for different frequencies is obvious. This phenomenon is especially true for G", because the position of the maximum differs substantially along the time axis. In the most general sense, this reflects the contributions of the main relaxation mechanisms of the material to its measured viscoelastic properties. 

Researchers have examined the creep and creep recovery of textile fibers extensively (13-21). For example, Hunt and Darlington (16, 17) studied the effects of temperature, humidity, and previous thermal history on the creep properties of Nylon 6,6. They were able to explain the shift in creep curves with changes in temperature and humidity. Lead-erman (19) studied the time dependence of creep at different temperatures and humidities. Shifts in creep curves due to changes in temperature and humidity were explained with simple equations and convenient shift factors. Morton and Hearle (21) also examined the dependence of fiber creep on temperature and humidity. Meredith (20) studied many mechanical properties, including creep of several generic fiber types. Phenomenological theory of linear viscoelasticity of semicrystalline polymers has been tested with creep measurements performed on textile fibers (18). From these works one can readily appreciate that creep behavior is affected by many factors on both practical and theoretical levels. 

Finally, one of the most useful ways of measuring viscoelastic properties is dynamic mechanical analysis, or DMA. In this type of experiment, an oscillating stress is applied to the sample and the response is measured as a function of the frequency of the oscillation. By using different instruments this frequency can be varied over an enormous range. Actually, the sample is usually stretched a little bit and oscillated about this strain also, the stress necessary to produce an oscillatory strain of a given magnitude is the quantity usually measured. If the sample being oscillated happens to be perfectly elastic, so that its response is instantaneous, then the stress and strain would be completely in-phase. If a sinusoidal shear strain is imposed on the sample we have (Equation 13-72) ... 

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