Modeling and Predicting the Behavior of Viscoelastic Materials

Polymeric reinforced composites are ideal materials for structural applications because of their low weight to high strength ratio. However, the polymers used to bond the composites are both time and temperature dependent. This causes the mathematical modeling and prediction of the polymeric response to be difficult, yet necessary for design as the structural use of polymer matrix composites increases. This study focuses on the derivation of the differential equations that model neat polymers during different loading scenarios and discusses how the differentials affect the polymeric behavior. This study also predicts the behavior of a polymer over a wide range of time scales by using the Time Temperature Superposition Principle (TTSP). Finally, this study examines the sensitivity of kinetic models for integration bounds of the heat flow vs. temperature curve.