Polymer Processing

ENSPD

Mechanical Properties of Polymers

Instructor:
Dr. Gnidakouong
Ngouanom
Types of Deformation

Tensile Compressive Shear

• “Deformation”: change in physical dimensions of shape

• All deformation processes in manufacturing involve strains of
these types.

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Classification of Material Deformation
• Time-independent
− Elastic: recovered immediately upon unloading
− Plastic: not recovered upon unloading (permanent)

• Time-dependent
− Creep: slow, continuous deformation that accumulates with time
(e.g. tungsten light bulb filament, glass windows in old houses, etc.)

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Types of Material Tests
• Tension
• Compression
• Torsion
• Flexure (bending)
• Hardness
• Fatigue
• Creep
• Stress relaxation
• Impact
• etc.

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Tension Test
Universal material
testing system
(hydraulic/electrical)

P
Stress  
A0

L
Strain  
L0

Significance of ultimate tensile strength (UTS):

Onset of necking, where geometric softening
4
overcomes strain hardening
Exercise: Tension Test

Find: • Elastic modulus (Young’s modulus) (GPa)

• Yield stress (MPa)
• Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) (MPa)
• Fracture strength (MPa)
• % elongation-to-break (%)

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Tension Test
Polycarbonate HDPE

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Stress-Strain Curves of Various Polymers

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Effect of Temperature on Stress-Strain Curve

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Effect of Strain Rate on Tensile Strength

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Tension Test Standards
• ASTM E8: for metals
ASTM D638: for plastics
ASTM D3039: for polymer matrix composite materials

• ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)

AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute)
ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
DIN (Deutsches Institut fur Normung)
ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

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Tension Test Standard Example : ASTM D638

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Tension Test Standard Example : ASTM D638

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Tension Test Standard Example : ASTM D638

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Tension Test Standard Example : ASTM D638

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Tension Test Standard Example : ASTM D638

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Tensile Properties of Polymers

16
Tension: Loading-Unloading Behavior

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Idealized Stress-Strain Curves
Perfectly elastic Rigid, perfectly plastic Elastic, perfectly plastic

Rigid, linearly strain Elastic, linearly strain

hardening hardening

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Compression

“Barreling”

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Torsion

Shear stress Shear strain Shear modulus

T r  E
  G    poisson's ratio
2 r 2t l  2(1  )

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Flexure (Bending)

Mc

I

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Hardness

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Brinell and Vickers Hardness
• Brinell: a steel or tungsten carbide ball 10 mm in diameter is
pressed against a surface with a load of 500, 1500, or 3000 kg.

2P
HB 
( D)( D  D 2  d 2 )

• Vickers uses a pyramid-shaped diamond indenter with loads

ranging from 1 to 120 kg.
1.854P
HV 
L2
• Knoop uses a diamond indenter in the shape of an elongated
pyramid using loads ranging from 25 g to 5 kg.
14.2P
HK 
L2

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Fatigue

 S-N curves

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Creep

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Impact

Charpy Izod

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Impact (Drop Weight)

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 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Range of Material Behavior

Solid Like ---------- Liquid Like
Ideal Solid ----- Most Materials ----- Ideal Fluid
Purely Elastic ----- Viscoelastic ----- Purely Viscous

Viscoelasticity: Having both viscous

and elastic properties

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Spring Purely Elastic Dashpot

Purely Viscous
Response Response

Hookean Solid Newtonian Liquid

 = E or  = G  = h

In the case of the classical extremes, all that matters is

the values of stress, strain, strain rate. The response is
independent of the loading.

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
• An oscillatory (sinusoidal)
Deformation
deformation (stress or strain) is
applied to a sample.

• The material response (strain or

stress) is measured. Response
• The phase angle delta, or phase
shift, between the deformation
and response is measured.

Phase angle 

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Purely Elastic Response Purely Viscous Response

(Hookean Solid) (Newtonian Liquid)
 = 0°  = 90°

Stress Stress

Strain Strain

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Phase angle     

Strain

Stress

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
 The stress in a dynamic experiment is referred to as the
complex stress *
 The complex stress can be separated into two components:
1) An elastic stress in phase with the strain. ' = *cos
' is the degree to which material behaves like an elastic solid.
2) A viscous stress in phase with the strain rate. " = *sin
" is the degree to which material behaves like an ideal liquid.

Phase angle 

Complex Stress, *
* = ' + i"

Strain, 

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
 The modulus of a material is defined as the ratio of the
stress to the strain, E = /. The complex, elastic, and
viscous moduli are therefore calculated as follows:
Complex Modulus:
Measure of material’s overall E* = */ = E' + iE"
resistance to deformation

Elastic (Storage) Modulus:

Measure of elasticity of material. E' = '/  =E*cos 
The ability of the material to store
energy
Viscous (Loss) Modulus:
The ability of the material to
dissipate energy. Energy lost as
E" = "/  =E*sin 
heat

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

SUPER BALL LOSS

TENNIS
BALL X

STORAGE

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

E* E"
Dynamic measurement
represented as a vector
Phase angle 

E'
 The tangent of the phase angle is the ratio of the
loss modulus to the storage modulus.
tan  = E"/E'
 "TAN DELTA" (tan ) is a measure of the
damping ability of the material.

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 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
Time Temperature
sweep Deformation ramp

time between
data points
m = ramp rate
(°C/min)
Time
Denotes Oscillatory
Strain Measurement
sweep Deformation
time (min)

Temperature
step
Time
Frequency Soak Time Step
sweep Deformation Size

Denotes Oscillatory
Measurement

Time
Time

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis
3-point bending Shear sandwich Compression

Single/dual Film/fiber
cantilever tension

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

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Effect of Frequency

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Rheological Models
• Simple mechanical devices, such as linear springs, frictional
sliders, and viscous dashpots can be used as an aid to
understanding the various types of deformation.

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Viscosity
• Measure of energy dissipation upon shearing a fluid
• Measured in [Poise] or [g/cm-s].

Viscometers

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Rheological Models
Force input

“Viscoelastic”

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Plastic Deformation Models

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Creep Deformation Models

Maxwell model

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Creep Recovery

Creep >0 Recovery  = 0 (after steady state)

/h
More Viscous

More Elastic
Creep Zone Recovery Zone
t1 t2

time

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Stress Relaxation Behavior
The decrease in stress when a material is held at constant strain

Maxwell model

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Viscoelastic Models

  E
  h

 total   elastic   plastic

 total   elastic   plastic

 
Maxwell model Voigt-Kelvin model  
(series) (parallel) E h

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Exercise: Stress Relaxation

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Exercise: Stress Relaxation Time

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Summary: Viscoelastic Models
• Three major types of deformation:
− Elastic: stretching of chemical bonds; time-independent; recovered
immediately upon unloading
− Plastic: time-independent; permanent
− Creep: time-dependent
• Viscoelastic models are qualitatively useful, but are
quantitatively inaccurate.
• Real materials cannot be described by a single relaxation
time.
• Factors affecting creep behavior:
− Crystallinity
− Glass transition temperature
− Molecular orientation
− Molecular weight
− Degree of crosslinking
− Molecular polarity
− As these factors increase, the effect on creep behavior decreases.
• In general, creep and stress relaxation are significant when
the use temperature is 40% of the absolute Tm.
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Measuring Creep on DMA

Method
Equilibrate at _____°C
Isothermal for _____min
Displace_____min, Recover_____min

Instrument Parameters
Data Sampling Interval _____sec/pt
Static Force _____N
Stress _____MPa
Equilibration Criteria Time _____min
or Rate _____mm/min

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Measuring Creep on DMA

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Measuring Creep on DMA
Sample: WINPAC Sample #3 Creep at 85°C File: A:...\Winpak\Sam3crp.001
Size: 10.0170 x 5.8000 x 0.1400 mm DMA Operator: RRU/LEW
Method: Creep Run Date: 13-Apr-98 16:27
Comment: 1 MPa at 85°C
40000 20000

l
l

[ p ] Recoverable Compliance (µm^2/N)

30000 15000
l
[ l ] Creep Compliance (µm^2/N)

p p
p
p
p
l

20000 l p 10000

l p

l p
10000 5000

0 l p 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time (min) Universal V2.1A TA Instruments

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Measuring Stress Relaxation on DMA

Method
Equilibrate at _____°C
Isothermal for _____min
Displace_____min, Recover_____min

Instrument Parameters
Data Sampling Interval _____sec/pt
Static Force _____N
Strain _____%
Equilibration Criteria Time _____min
or Rate _____mm/min

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Measuring Stress Relaxation on DMA

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