Determination of the Elongational Properties of Polymers Using a Mixed Numerical-Experimental Method

Abstract

The biaxial properties of materials such as rubbers or polymers are often difficult to identify, and generally a simple isotropic behaviour derived from classical 1D tensile test is considered. However, biaxial properties are useful for the simulation of plastic-processing operations such as blow moulding [1] or thermoforming. As previously reported, the rheological behaviour and the mechanical properties of rubbers and polymers can be obtained by using a bubble inflation rheometer [2–4], or multi-axial tensile test [5]. In this work, experimental data provided by optical measurements on tensile tests and bubble inflation tests are coupled with Finite Element Method simulations for identifying the rheological behaviour. This work is actually based on natural rubber and will be extend to thermoplastic (PP and PET) materials.