Thermosetting, amorphous polymer

As found for elastic properties (Chapter 10), there are some similarities between the behavior of amorphous linear polymers and thermosets in the domain of large deformations. 

Amorphous Polymer, amorphous Polymer, thermosetting Polymer, thermosetting Polymer, thermosetting Polymer, thermoplastic Polymer, thermoplastic... 

Bonding The use of solvents (mostly with a cement made of a viscous solution of the same polymer) is common for easily soluble amorphous polymers like acrylics, polystyrene, cellulose, and PVC. However, this method does not apply to most crystalline polymers. The proper choice of solvent (or mixture of solvents) also takes into account the desired rate of diffusion. In this matter, the concept of solubility parameters may be exploited when there is a similarity between polymer and solvent. Various glues may also be used (contact glue, epoxy) in order to bind plastics to each other, including crystalline polymers or thermosets. 

Constitutive Modeling of Amorphous Thermosetting Shape Memory Polymer and Shape Memory Polymer Based Syntactic Foam... 

Figure 19.12 compares the modulus-temperature response of an amorphous thermoplastic polymer with thermosets that are lightly and highly cross-linked. Crosslinks in thermosets do not melt out like crystallites in semicrystalline thermoplastics so the modulus-temperature curve is flatter up to the point of thermal decomposition. Modulus above Tg is strongly dependent on the number of cross-links per unit volume, or... 

As demonstrated for several amorphous thermosets and thermoplastic polymers, the specific heat of amorphous polymers below 80 K is mostly independent of chemical structure (27) and higher than the specific heat of crystalline polymers. This is enhanced by the fact that the velocity of sound v is higher in most crystalline materials and C (see also Acoustic PROPERTIES). 

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. 

The less simple polymers (like the epoxies, the polyesters and the formaldehyde-based resins) are networks each chain is cross-linked in many places to other chains, so that, if stretched out, the array would look like a piece of Belgian lace, somehow woven in three dimensions. These are the thermosets if heated, the structure softens but it does not melt the cross-links prevent viscous flow. Thermosets are usually a bit stiffer than amorphous thermoplastics because of the cross-links, but they cannot easily be crystallised or oriented, so there is less scope for changing their properties by processing. 

This difference in spatial characteristics has a profound effect upon the polymer s physical and chemical properties. In thermoplastic polymers, application of heat causes a change from a solid or glassy (amorphous) state to a flowable liquid. In thermosetting polymers, the change of state occurs from a rigid solid to a soft, rubbery composition. The glass transition temperature, Tg, ... 

Except for a lew thermoset materials, most plastics soften at some temperatures, At the softening or heat distortion temperature, plastics become easily deformahle and tend to lose their shape and deform quickly under a Load. Above the heat distortion temperature, rigid amorphous plastics become useless as structural materials. Thus the heat distortion test, which defines The approximate upper temperature at which the material can be Safely used, is an important test (4,5.7.24). As expected, lor amorphous materials the heat distortion temperature is closely related to the glass transition temperature, hut tor highly crystalline polymers the heat distortion temperature is generally considerably higher than the glass transition temperature. Fillers also often raise the heat distortion test well above... 

A truncation of the term thermoplastics. Generally organic materials which in the manufacturing stage are caused to flow by the application of heat and pressure and thus take up a desired shape, which shape is retained when the applied heat and pressure are removed. Plastics are high polymers and are classified into amorphous and semicrystalline thermoplastics and thermosetting materials. 

Thermoplastic polymers can be heated and cooled reversibly with no change to their chemical structure. Thermosets are processed or cured by a chemical reaction which is irreversible they can be softened by heating but do not return to their uncured state. The polymer type will dictate whether the compound is completely amorphous or partly crystalline at the operating temperature, and its intrinsic resistance to chemicals, mechanical stress and electrical stress. Degradation of the basic polymer, and, in particular, rupture of the main polymer chain or backbone, is the principal cause of reduction of tensile strength. 

The Argon theory has successfully interpreted the yield behavior of a large number of amorphous thermoplastic polymers (3,4). For thermosets,... 

Thermosetting polymers are usually amorphous because there is no possibility of ordering portions of the network structure due to the restrictions imposed by the presence of crosslinks. Exceptions are networks obtained from rigid monomers exhibiting a nematic-isotropic transition. In these cases, a polymer network presenting a nematic-isotropic transition may be obtained, provided that the concentration of crosslinks is kept at a low value. 

From the practical point of view, the glass transition is a key property since it corresponds to the short-term ceiling temperature above which there is a catastrophic softening of the material. For amorphous polymers in general, and thus for thermosets, one can consider that the glass transition temperature, Tg, is related to the conventional heat deflection temperature (HDT) (usually, HDT is 10-15°C below Tg, depending on the applied stress and the criterion selected to define Tg). 

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