Recovery stress chains

Another interaction is responsible for the recovery of the material after it is subjected to stress. " Rubber bridging the neighboring particles of filler is an example. Some particles are connected through several rubber chains which makes their association more permanent and assures filler-filler contact. These filler-filler contacts are responsible for the recovery since, unlike chain-filler contacts, they store the strain energy which is then used in the recovery process. Chain-filler contacts can easily debond or rearrange in different location and this process does not result in recovery of the initial shape. 

Now let us consider the effect of recovery stress by the shape memory polyurethane fibers (SMPFs) on the diffusion process. The recovery stress, diffusion process by pushing the TP chains into the matrix, which helps overcome the diffusion barriers. In other words, it reduces the diffusion activation energy. Therefore, the diffusion coefficient can be... 

It is somewhat difficult conceptually to explain the recoverable high elasticity of these materials in terms of flexible polymer chains cross-linked into an open network structure as commonly envisaged for conventionally vulcanised rubbers. It is probably better to consider the deformation behaviour on a macro, rather than molecular, scale. One such model would envisage a three-dimensional mesh of polypropylene with elastomeric domains embedded within. On application of a stress both the open network of the hard phase and the elastomeric domains will be capable of deformation. On release of the stress, the cross-linked rubbery domains will try to recover their original shape and hence result in recovery from deformation of the blended object. 

Coran and Patel [33] selected a series of TPEs based on different rubbers and thermoplastics. Three types of rubbers EPDM, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), and nitrile (NBR) were selected and the plastics include PP, PS, styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), and PA. It was shown that the ultimate mechanical properties such as stress at break, elongation, and the elastic recovery of these dynamically cured blends increased with the similarity of the rubber and plastic in respect to the critical surface tension for wetting and with the crystallinity of the plastic phase. Critical chain length of the rubber molecule, crystallinity of the hard phase (plastic), and the surface energy are a few of the parameters used in the analysis. Better results are obtained with a crystalline plastic material when the entanglement molecular length of the... 

Although PBT fiber also has a plateau region in the stress-strain curve [4], the crystalline chains do not respond to external strain in the first few percent of deformation. They increased in length only when the strain is above 4% (see Figure 11.13). Therefore, initial macroscopic deformation involved viscous flow of the amorphous phase. Furthermore, PBT undergoes strain-induced crystal transformation at moderately low strains of 15-20% [75], The differences in their microscopic crystalline chain deformation explained why PTT has a better elastic recovery than PBT even though both have contracted chains and knees in their stress-strain curves [4, 69],... 

The materials are melt-process able and a critical stress for flow is observed, similar to conventional PP/EPDM-based TPVs. Application of static crosslinking leads to (partial) connectivity of the rubber particles via chemical bridging of grafted PE chains. Dynamic preparation conditions caused the connected structure to break-up, which led to a significant enhancement of the mechanical properties and the melt processability. The addition of 25-80 wt% extender oil resulted in a reduced complex viscosity and yield stress in the melt, without deteriorating the mechanical properties. The relatively good elastic recovery and excellent final properties of these high hardness TPVs can be explained in terms of the submicrometer rubber dispersions. 

The trouble is that, under transient conditions, the shear recovery vs. preceding shear deformation can be much more sensitive to deviations from the strict behaviour of a second order fluid than the shear viscosity or the normal stress difference. A few entanglements between extraordinarily long chain molecules may be responsible for a maximum in the shear recovery. If this is the case, a shear recovery higher than the one... 

Creep, stress relaxation and set are all methods of investigating the result of an applied stress or strain as a function of time. Creep is the measurement of the increase of strain with time under constant force stress relaxation is the measurement of change of stress with time under constant strain and set is the measurement of recovery after the removal of an applied stress or strain. It is important to appreciate that there are two distinct causes for the phenomena of creep, relaxation and set, the first physical and the second chemical. The physical effect is due to rubbers being viscoelastic, as discussed in Chapter 9, and the response to a stress or strain is not instantaneous but develops with time. The chemical effect is due to ageing of the rubber by oxidative chain scission, further crosslinking or other reaction. 

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