A model of traps for yield in amorphous glassy polymers

Summary

 Constitutive equations are derived for the viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior of amorphous glassy polymers at isothermal loading with small strains. The model is based on the trapping concept: a disordered medium is treated as an ensemble of plastic flow units (with the characteristic size of micrometers), which, in turn, consist of a number of cooperative rearranging regions (with the characteristic length of nanometers). The viscoelastic response is described by rearrangement of relaxing regions, whereas the viscoplastic behavior is modeled as irreversible deformation of plastic units. Adjustable parameters are found by fitting observations for aromatic polyesters, nylon-66, polycarbonate block copolymers and an epoxy glass. Fair agreement is demonstrated between experimental data and results of numerical simulation.