760090410_ftp.pdfVIP

On the Characterization of Nonlinear Viscoelastic Materials : (Received January 10, 1969) K.A. SCHAPERY, School of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Engineering Science Purdue University,WestLafayette, Indiana Startingwith specific constitutive equations,methods of eval- uating material properties from experimental data are outlined and then illustrated for some polymeric materials; these equa- tions have been derived from thermodynamic principles, and are very similar to the Boltzmann superposition integral form of linear theory. The experimental basis for two equations under uniaxial loading and the influence of environmental fac- tors on the properties are first examined. It is then shown that creep and recovery data can be conveniently used to evaluate properties in one equation, while two-step relaxation data serve the same purpose for the second equation. Methods of reducing data to accomplish this characterization and to determine the accuracy of the theory are illustrated using existing data on nitrocellulose film, fiber-reinforced phenolic resin, and polyiso- butylene. Finally, a set of three-dimensional constitutive equa-