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Temperature rise in a thermoplastic under completely reversed bending stresses
Author(s) -
Vinet R.,
Connolly R.,
Gauvin R.
Publication year - 1981
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.760211805
Subject(s) - materials science , bending , thermoplastic , composite material , relaxation (psychology) , viscoelasticity , convergence (economics) , flexural strength , distribution (mathematics) , point (geometry) , mechanics , structural engineering , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics , physics , engineering , psychology , social psychology , economics , economic growth
When a thermoplastic specimen is tested in flexural fatigue, the viscoelastic behavior of the material combines with the heat dissipation mechanism to generate an equilibrium temperature distribution. In order to locate the starting point of an eventual fatigue crack in the most stressed section of a particular geometry, it is important to know where the temperature reaches its maximum value. A first mathematical model has been proposed to evaluate the temperature distribution across the thickness of the specimen. Solutions have been obtained analytically and by a finite difference method. A comparison of the solutions enabled us to optimize the mesh size, the relaxation factor and the convergence criterion in the finite difference scheme in order to get results within a chosen accuracy. Preliminary test results are given and compared with the theoretical temperature distribution for two thermoplastics, nylon 66 and acetal homopolymer.