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A New Shear-Compression-Specimen for Determining Quasistatic and Dynamic Polymer Properties

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Abstract

A new design of the shear compression specimen (SCS) for investigating the viscoelastic shear response of polymers is presented. The specimen consists of a polymer gage section with two metal ends that remain essentially rigid during deformation. Two closed-form analytic models are developed to predict the average stress and strain in the gage section from the deformation-load histories. This new SCS design and its analytic models are thoroughly evaluated via laboratory measurements and numerical simulations. These simulations show that the deformations in the gage section are more uniform than in the original design, and the distribution of the average shear stress and strain are highly homogenous. The simulation results yield good agreement with those of closed-form analytic results and the experiments demonstrate that the new SCS geometry and its analytic models are as reliable as other commonly employed specimens. It can also generate higher strain rates under usual loading conditions because of its smaller specimen gage length. The need for care in specimen preparation is also discussed in detail as illuminated by the experimental and simulation results.

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Notes

  1. For example, OFV-551/552 Fiber-Optic Interferometer, Polytech.

  2. To achieve this condition experimentally see reference [1].

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Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Office of Naval Research for supporting this investigation under Grants N00014-05-1-0548 and N00014-05-1-0624. We thank Dr. R. S. Barsoum for his suggestions and discussions during the course of this research. Moreover, helpful discussions with Prof. D. Rittel, Dr. Jun Yan, Dr. X. Feng and Dr. A. Dorogoy are much appreciated. We thank the extensive contributions of Mr. Benny Poon during the experimental development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    J. Zhao, W.G. Knauss (SEM Fellow) & G. Ravichandran (SEM member)

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  1. J. Zhao
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  2. W.G. Knauss
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  3. G. Ravichandran
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Correspondence to W.G. Knauss.

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Zhao, J., Knauss, W. & Ravichandran, G. A New Shear-Compression-Specimen for Determining Quasistatic and Dynamic Polymer Properties. Exp Mech 49, 427–436 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-008-9171-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-008-9171-z

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