Stress, mechanical, transition

In the last section we considered tire mechanical behaviour of polymers in tire linear regime where tire response is proportional to tire applied stress or strain. This section deals witli tire nonlinear behaviour of polymers under large defonnation. Microscopically, tire transition into tire nonlinear regime is associated with a change of tire polymer stmcture under mechanical loading. 

Short segments of poly(dG—dC) incorporated within plasmids, or citcular DNA, adopt the Z-conformation under negative superhehcal stress. This left-handed DNA may be important in genetic control. On the other hand, the stmctural alteration of the helix requited in a B-to-Z transition within a plasmid is radical, and would involve either a multistep mechanism or the complete melting and reformation of helix. The improbability of such transitions has led to questions concerning the feasibility of a biological role for Z-DNA. 

For times less than the transit time of the wave, the current is proportional to the stress at the input electrode in a linear approximation. For times greater than the wave transit time, the current is proportional to the stress difference between the electrodes. Thus, the thin-film nature of PVDF provides a means to measure stress differences, and, given mechanical tolerances that limit loading times to a few nanoseconds, measurements are difficult to... 

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