Springs viscoelastic

The Maxwell and Voigt models of the last two sections have been investigated in all sorts of combinations. For our purposes, it is sufficient that they provide us with a way of thinking about relaxation and creep experiments. Probably one of the reasons that the various combinations of springs and dash-pots have been so popular as a way of representing viscoelastic phenomena is the fact that simple and direct comparison is possible between mechanical and electrical networks, as shown in Table 3.3. In this parallel, the compliance of a spring is equivalent to the capacitance of a condenser and the viscosity of a dashpot is equivalent to the resistance of a resistor. The analogy is complete... 

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). 

Stress Relaxation. Another important consequence of the viscoelastic nature of plastics is that if they are subjected to a particular strain and this strain is held constant it is found that as time progresses, the stress necessary to maintain this strain decreases. This is termed stress relaxation and is of vital importance in the design of gaskets, seals, springs and snap-fit assemblies. This subject will also be considered in greater detail in the next chapter. 

Throughout this chapter the viscoelastic behaviour of plastics has been described and it has been shown that deformations are dependent on such factors as the time under load and the temperature. Therefore, when structural components are to be designed using plastics, it must be remembered that the classical equations which are available for the design of springs, beams, plates, cylinders, etc., have all been derived under the assumptions that... 

Over the years there have been many attempts to simulate the behaviour of viscoelastic materials. This has been aimed at (i) facilitating analysis of the behaviour of plastic products, (ii) assisting with extrapolation and interpolation of experimental data and (iii) reducing the need for extensive, time-consuming creep tests. The most successful of the mathematical models have been based on spring and dashpot elements to represent, respectively, the elastic and viscous responses of plastic materials. Although there are no discrete molecular structures which behave like the individual elements of the models, nevertheless... 

The viscoelastic behaviour of a certain plastic is to be represented by spring and dashpot elements having constants of 2 GN/m and 90 GNs/m respectively. If a stress of 12 MN/m is applied for 100 seconds and then completely removed, compare the values of strain predicted by the Maxwell and Kelvin-Voigt models after (a) 50 seconds (b) 150 seconds. 

A Standard Model for the viscoelastic behaviour of plastics consists of a spring element in scries with a Voigt model as shown in Fig. 2.86. Derive the governing equation for this model and from this obtain the expression for creep strain. Show that the Unrelaxed Modulus for this model is and the Relaxed Modulus is fi 2/(fi + 2>. 

The Maxwell model is also called Maxwell fluid model. Briefly it is a mechanical model for simple linear viscoelastic behavior that consists of a spring of Young s modulus (E) in series with a dashpot of coefficient of viscosity (ji). It is an isostress model (with stress 5), the strain (f) being the sum of the individual strains in the spring and dashpot. This leads to a differential representation of linear viscoelasticity as d /dt = (l/E)d5/dt + (5/Jl)-This model is useful for the representation of stress relaxation and creep with Newtonian flow analysis. 

Because of the assumption that linear relations exist between shear stress and shear rate (equation 3.4) and between distortion and stress (equation 3.128), both of these models, namely the Maxwell and Voigt models, and all other such models involving combinations of springs and dashpots, are restricted to small strains and small strain rates. Accordingly, the equations describing these models are known as line viscoelastic equations. Several theoretical and semi-theoretical approaches are available to account for non-linear viscoelastic effects, and reference should be made to specialist works 14-16 for further details. 

In order to model viscoelasticity mathematically, a material can be considered as though it were made up of springs, which obey Hooke s law, and dashpots filled with a perfectly Newtonian liquid. Newtonian liquids are those which deform at a rate proportional to the applied stress and inversely proportional to the viscosity, rj, of the liquid. There are then a number of ways of arranging these springs and dashpots and hence of altering the... 

Figure 7.5 Parallel arrangement of spring and dashpot as used to describe viscoelasticity...

Viscoelasticity illustrates materials that exhibit both viscous and elastic characteristics. Viscous materials tike honey resist shear flow and strain linearly with time when a stress is applied. Elastic materials strain instantaneously when stretched and just as quickly return to their original state once the stress is removed. Viscoelastic materials have elements of both of these properties and, as such, exhibit time-dependent strain. Viscoelasticity is the result of the diffusion of atoms or molecules inside an amorphous material. Rubber is highly elastic, but yet a viscous material. This property can be defined by the term viscoelasticity. Viscoelasticity is a combination of two separate mechanisms occurring at the same time in mbber. A spring represents the elastic portion, and a dashpot represents the viscous component (Figure 28.7). 

It is likely that most biomaterials possess non-linear elastic properties. However, in the absence of detailed measurements of the relevant properties it is not necessary to resort to complicated non-linear theories of viscoelasticity. A simple dashpot-and-spring Maxwell model of viscoelasticity will provide a good basis to consider the main features of the behaviour of the soft-solid walls of most biomaterials in the flow field of a typical bioprocess equipment. 

FIGURE 6.9 Dependence of viscoelastic parameters on solvent quality. The (A) static force, (B) drag coefficient at 10 kHz, (C) dynamic spring constant, and (D) dispersion parameter are shown as a function of the surface-sphere distance. The results for water, propanol, and a 50/50 water/propanol mixture are given. Reprinted with permission from Benmouna and Johannsmann (2004). 

First approaches at modeling the viscoelasticity of polymer solutions on the basis of a molecular theory can be traced back to Rouse [33], who derived the so-called bead-spring model for flexible coiled polymers. It is assumed that the macromolecules can be treated as threads consisting of N beads freely jointed by (N-l) springs. Furthermore, it is considered that the solution is ideally dilute, so that intermolecular interactions can be neglected. 

Fig. 58 The rheological model of a polymer fibre consists of a series arrangement of an elastic tensile spring representing the chain modulus, ec, and a shear spring, g(t), with viscoelastic and plastic properties representing the intermolecular bonding...

The simplest model that can show the most important aspects of viscoelastic behaviour is the Maxwell fluid. A mechanical model of the Maxwell fluid is a viscous element (a piston sliding in a cylinder of oil) in series with an elastic element (a spring). The total extension of this mechanical model is the sum of the extensions of the two elements and the rate of extension is the sum of the two rates of extension. It is assumed that the same form of combination can be applied to the shearing of the Maxwell fluid. 

Whilst obtaining this is the ultimate goal for many rheologists, in practice it is not possible to develop such an expression. However, our mechanical analogues do allow us to develop linear constitutive equations which allow us to relate the phenomena of linear viscoelastic measurements. For a spring the relationship is straightforward. When any form of shear strain is placed on the sample the shear stress responds instantly and is proportional to the strain. The constant of proportionality is the shear modulus... 

One feature of the Maxwell model is that it allows the complete relaxation of any applied strain, i.e. we do not observe any energy stored in the sample, and all the energy stored in the springs is dissipated in flow. Such a material is termed a viscoelastic fluid or viscoelastic liquid. However, it is feasible for a material to show an apparent yield stress at low shear rates or stresses (Section 6.2). We can think of this as an elastic response at low stresses or strains regardless of the application time (over all practical timescales). We can only obtain such a response by removing one of the dashpots from the viscoelastic model in Figure 4.8. When a... 

This material is a linear viscoelastic solid and is described by the multiple Maxwell model with an additional term, the spring elasticity... 

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