Viscoelastic curves

Figure 28.9 shows the total stress curve (a combination of the viscous and elastic), it is called viscoelastic curve. It is following, the elastic one, by a distance, equivalent to a certain number of degrees, known as delta, 8. 

FIGURE 28.8 Idealized cyclic stress-strains, showing the viscoelastic curve split up into its two primary components, elastic and viscous. (Redrawn from Andrew, C., Introduction to Rubber Technology, Knovel e-book publishers, 1999.)... 

For a given polymer, the viscoelastic curves (either moduli or compliances) obtained at different temperatures in the plateau and terminal regions are simply affine in the frequency (or time) scale, in a double logarithmic plot. 

Figure 7.2 D5mamic viscoelastic curves for the PLA/PU blends (a) tan 5 versus temperature (b) the enlarged part of the PU glass transition region.

The plateau modulus. Go, was calculated using the equation written below, then viscoelasticity curve was calculated by BOB rheology for three arms star polymer, which results were also shown in Figure 20. 

Viscoelastic parameters Ki, K2 and q of the model are determined by fitting the experimental curve V(t) to the sum of cosines with constant coefficients ... 

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). 

Fig. 36. Typical creep curve for a viscoelastic material. Stress applied at time and removed at...

Figure 36 is representative of creep and recovery curves for viscoelastic fluids. Such a curve is obtained when a stress is placed on the specimen and the deformation is monitored as a function of time. During the experiment the stress is removed, and the specimen, if it can, is free to recover. The slope of the linear portion of the creep curve gives the shear rate, and the viscosity is the appHed stress divided by the slope. A steep slope indicates a low viscosity, and a gradual slope a high viscosity. The recovery part of Figure 36 shows that the specimen was viscoelastic because relaxation took place and some of the strain was recovered. A purely viscous material would not have shown any recovery, as shown in Figure 16b. 

Because the indentation varies with time, the modulus must be specified for a certain indentation time, eg, a 10-s modulus. The Hertz equation holds only for purely elastic materials. However, it has been appHed to viscoelastic materials, including polymers and coatings, with excellent results (249—256). Indentation hardness vs temperature curves are shown in Figure 40 (249,251). 

A typical stress—strain curve generated by a tensile tester is shown in Eigure 41. Creep and stress—relaxation results are essentially the same as those described above. Regarding stress—strain diagrams and from the standpoint of measuring viscoelastic properties, the early part of the curve, ie, the region... 

Viscoelasticity can also be determined by a controlled stress rheometer. The shape of a creep curve can show that a fluid is viscoelastic, and the amount of recovery after the stress is removed gives a measure of elasticity. 

For a fiber immersed in water, the ratio of the slopes of the stress—strain curve in these three regions is about 100 1 10. Whereas the apparent modulus of the fiber in the preyield region is both time- and water-dependent, the equiUbrium modulus (1.4 GPa) is independent of water content and corresponds to the modulus of the crystalline phase (32). The time-, temperature-, and water-dependence can be attributed to the viscoelastic properties of the matrix phase. 

The theory relating stress, strain, time and temperature of viscoelastic materials is complex. For many practical purposes it is often better to use an ad hoc system known as the pseudo-elastic design approach. This approach uses classical elastic analysis but employs time- and temperature-dependent data obtained from creep curves and their derivatives. In outline the procedure consists of the following steps ... 

Tackifying resins enhance the adhesion of non-polar elastomers by improving wettability, increasing polarity and altering the viscoelastic properties. Dahlquist [31 ] established the first evidence of the modification of the viscoelastic properties of an elastomer by adding resins, and demonstrated that the performance of pressure-sensitive adhesives was related to the creep compliance. Later, Aubrey and Sherriff [32] demonstrated that a relationship between peel strength and viscoelasticity in natural rubber-low molecular resins blends existed. Class and Chu [33] used the dynamic mechanical measurements to demonstrate that compatible resins with an elastomer produced a decrease in the elastic modulus at room temperature and an increase in the tan <5 peak (which indicated the glass transition temperature of the resin-elastomer blend). Resins which are incompatible with an elastomer caused an increase in the elastic modulus at room temperature and showed two distinct maxima in the tan <5 curve. 

The grade of polypropylene whose creep curves are given in Fig. 2.5 is to have its viscoelastic behaviour fltted to a Maxwell model for stresses up to 6 MN/m and times up to ICKX) seconds. Determine the two constants for the model and use these to determine the stress in the material after 900 seconds if the material is subjected to a constant strain of 0.4% throughout the 900 seconds. 

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