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The confined chain approach to the deformation behavior of bulk polymers
Author(s) -
Gaylord Richard J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760191403
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , amorphous solid , softening , elastomer , deformation (meteorology) , chain (unit) , van der waals force , hardening (computing) , ultimate tensile strength , strain hardening exponent , stress (linguistics) , composite material , crystallography , physics , layer (electronics) , chemistry , quantum mechanics , astronomy , molecule , linguistics , philosophy
A theoretical “two wall” model of polymer chains confined between a pair of infinite parallel walls is developed to represent the amorphous regions in filled or reinforced elastomers, block copolymers and semicrystalline polymers. The free energies of the various types of confined chains are determined using statistics which incorporate nearest‐neighbor interactions. The stress‐strain, tensile ii odulus and swelling properties of the individual chains as a function of chain contour length and temperature are discussed. A mean field, free energy expression is used to account for interactions between confined chain segments: The free energy due to the direct interaction between the walls is given by a van der Waals potential. The equilibrium wall separation of the two wall model is determined as a function of the number of each type of chain, chain contour length and temperature. The two wall model is shown to display several deformation phenomena, including: yield, stress softening; draw; stress hardening; the Mullins effect; set; and crack or craze propagation.