Engineering Viscoelasticity

Engineering Viscoelasticity covers all aspects of the thermo- mechanical response of viscoelastic substances that a practitioner in the field of viscoelasticity would need to design experiments, interpret test data, develop stress-strain models, perform stress analyses, design structural components, and carry out research work. The material in each chapter is developed from the elementary to the esoteric, providing the background in mathematics and mechanics that are central to understanding the subject matter being presented. This book also examines how viscoelastic materials respond to the application of loads, and provides practical guidelines to use them in the design of commercial, military and industrial applications.

This book provides a unified mechanics and materials perspective on polymers: both the mathematics of viscoelasticity theory as well as the physical mechanisms behind polymer deformation processes. Introductory material on fundamental mechanics is included to provide a continuous baseline for readers from all disciplines. Introductory material on the chemical and molecular basis of polymers is also included, which is essential to the understanding of the thermomechanical response. This self-contained text covers the viscoelastic characterization of polymers including constitutive modeling, experimental methods, thermal response, and stress and failure analysis. Example problems are provided within the text as well as at the end of each chapter. New to this edition: · One new chapter on the use of nano-material inclusions for structural polymer applications and applications such as fiber-reinforced polymers and adhesively bonded structures · Brings up-to-date polymer production and sales data and equipment and procedures for evaluating polymer characterization and classification · The work serves as a comprehensive reference for advanced seniors seeking graduate level courses, first and second year graduate students, and practicing engineers

This pioneering book presents the basic theory, experimental methods, experimental results and solution of boundary value problems in a readable, useful way to designers as well as research workers and students. The mathematical background required has been kept to a minimum and supplemented by explanations where it has been necessary to introduce specialized mathematics. Also, appendices have been included to provide sufficient background in Laplace transforms and in step functions. Chapters 1 and 2 contain an introduction and historic review of creep. As an aid to the reader a background on stress, strain, and stress analysis is provided in Chapters 3 and 4, an introduction to linear viscoelasticity is found in Chapter 5 and linear viscoelastic stress analysis in Chapter 6. In the next six chapters the multiple integral representation of nonlinear creep and relaxation, and simplifications to single integral forms and incompressibility, are examined at length. After a consideration of other representations, general relations are derived, then expanded to components of stress or strain for special cases. Both constant stress (or strain) and variable states are described, together with methods of determining material constants. Conversion from creep to relaxation, effects of temperature and stress analysis problems in nonlinear materials are also treated here. Finally, Chapter 13 discusses experimental methods for creep and stress relaxation under combined stress. This chapter considers especially those experimental problems which must be solved properly when reliable experimental results of high precision are required. Six appendices present the necessary mathematical background, conversion tables, and more rigorous derivations than employed in the text. An extensive updated bibliography completes the book.

I express my full indebtedness to all researchers whose work is referenced in this book. Without their outstanding contributions to knowledge, this book would not have been written. I convey my thanks to Professor D. R. Axelrad (McGill University), who was the first person to introduce the fascinating subject of rheology to me and to Professor J. T. Pindera (University of Waterloo) for his kind encouragement and stimulating discussions on the subject matter. I am indebted to Dr J. H. Gittus, Editor-in-Chief Res Mechanica, for originally inviting me to write a book on viscoelasticity. of Permission granted to the author for the reproduction of figures and/or data by the following scientific societies, journals and publishers is gratefully acknowledged: Academic Press, American Chemical Society, American Institute of Physics, British Textile Technology Group, Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, Gebriider Born- traeger, Helvetica Chimica Acta, Hermann, International Union of Crystallography, John Wiley & Sons, Pergamon Press, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, Steinkopff Verlag, Tappi Journal, Taylor and Francis Ltd . . and the Institute of Physics. In the same context, the author wishes to express his sincere thanks and gratitude to Professors M. F. Ashby (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom), N. Davis (The Pennsylvania State University), H. F. Frost (Thayer School of Engineering), F. A. Leckie (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne), E. H. Lee (Stanford University), J. M. Morrison (AT & T Bell Laboratories), A. K. Mukherjee (University of California, Davis) and Dr H. J. Sutherland (Sandia National Laboratories).

Showcasing vital engineering applications to transient and dynamic pertubations of macromolecular materials, structural recovery's role in mechanical responses in the glassy state, and viscoelastic parameters that condition the non-Newtonian behaviour of polymers, this work presents a systematic account of the responses of macromolecular materials to mechanical force fields. It focuses on the most important features of the linear stress-strain relationships for ideal solids and liquids.

This volume on structural fire resistance is for aerospace, structural, and fire prevention engineers; architects, and educators. It bridges the gap between prescriptive- and performance-based methods and simplifies very complex and comprehensive computer analyses to the point that the structural fire resistance and high temperature creep deformations will have a simple, approximate analytical expression that can be used in structural analysis and design. The book emphasizes methods of the theory of engineering creep (stress-strain diagrams) and mathematical operations quite distinct from those of solid mechanics absent high-temperature creep deformations, in particular the classical theory of elasticity and structural engineering. Dr. Razdolsky’s previous books focused on methods of computing the ultimate structural design load to the different fire scenarios. The current work is devoted to the computing of the estimated ultimate resistance of the structure taking into account the effect of high temperature creep deformations. An essential resource for aerospace structural engineers who wish to improve their understanding of structure exposed to flare up temperatures and severe fires, the book also serves as a textbook for introductory courses in fire safety in civil or structural engineering programs, vital reading for the PhD students in aerospace fire protection and structural engineering, and a case study of a number of high-profile fires (the World Trade Center, Broadgate Phase 8, One Meridian Plaza; Mandarin Towers). Probability Based High Temperature Engineering: Creep and Structural Fire Resistance successfully bridges the information gap between aerospace, structural, and engineers; building inspectors, architects, and code officials.

In this book, the necessary background for understanding viscoelasticity is covered; both the continuum and microstructure approaches to modelling viscoelastic materials are discussed, since neither approach alone is sufficient.

This graduate text on viscoelastic materials addresses design applications as diverse as earplugs, computer disks and medical diagnostics.