Time- and Rate-Dependent Deformation

Laboratory 5 Report October 8, 2013

Mechanical Behavior of Engineering Materials (ME108) Fall 2013 University of California at Berkeley

Group 7 Lab Section 104, 1st Rotation

Joey Johnescu Kevin Kung Nick Renda Jon Saltz

Table of Contents
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ 3 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3 THEORY................................................................................................................................. 3 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS ............................................................................................ 4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 5 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 7 CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................... 8 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 8

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1.0

ABSTRACT The purpose of this laboratory is to observe and analyze the time- and rate-dependent

responses of polymers under loading. Uniaxial tensile loading tests with varying parameters are used on six Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) samples. In the first three tests varying rates of elongation are used; in the last three the stress relaxation effect is observed by holding the sample at a constant elongation and measuring the decrease in load. The stress-strain relationships acquired from these experiments illustrate the viscoelastic behaviors of polymers. 2.0 INTRODUCTION Safety has always been a fundamental concern and limiting factor as engineers continue to push the boundaries of mechanical design. One possible cause of material failure occurs when materials undergo a critical amount of tensile or shear stress, forcing the material to fracture in an effort to relieve the load. But as material is exposed to various external elements, engineers are looking to cheap polymers in order to have tough material that is resistant to corrosion and oxidation, while providing high impact strength and a low coefficient of friction for some given applications. Because of these material properties, polymers such as UHMWPE can be found in applications ranging from hip replacements to fishing line. In the first lab experiment, we will measure the mechanical properties of material from monotonic loading (tensile) tests using dogbone shape UHMWPE specimens. An Instron machine will be used to measure load and elongation to find the stress and strain as the test specimens undergo plastic deformation. We will study the mechanical behavior of viscoelastic materials like polymers, using a thermoplastic polymer to perform tensile experiments and relate the material stress-strain response to the microstructure characteristics. 3.0 THEORY Polymers are long chains of simple molecules, which are primarily connected by CarbonCarbon bonds, and generally possess relatively low density and strength. In this lab we worked with samples of UHMWPE, which is composed of very long polyethylene chains (-(CH4)n-) that arrange themselves in a combination of random, amorphous or folded, crystalline structures [2]. The unique viscoelastic properties of UHMWPE are a direct result of this microstructure. As with other viscoelastic materials, UHMWPE exhibits strain rate dependence, meaning it behaves more brittlely at higher strain rates, i.e. it has a higher Young's Modulus in the elastic region, a higher yield point, and fractures at a smaller strain [3]. This interesting behavior is due to the organic chains that make up the polymer, as opposed to the rigid crystalline structure of metals. #

When a specimen of UHMWPE is stretched, these chains unfold and realign themselves, allowing the specimen to elongate much further than metals before failure [2]. Also, at higher strain rates, these chains are given less time to reorient themselves, and therefore behave more brittlely. UHMWPE also exhibits stress relaxation, another common characteristic of viscoelastic materials, meaning that the stress inside the materials decreases over time while the strain is held constant. This is because when held at a constant strain, the chains are given time to reconfigure themselves into a more desirable state, namely one at a lower energy [1]. This means the molecular chains move in such a way as to decrease the stress in the material, or relax. UHMWPE is classified as a Thermoplastic, meaning its mechanical properties are highlydependent on temperature [3].The polymer chains in UHMWPE are not cross-linked, resulting in lower strength and modulus than complex-network polymers, frequently called Thermosetting Polymers [2]. At higher temperatures, the chains have more energy and are able to wiggle more freely, allowing them to reorient themselves more easily. Therefore, these materials soften and become more ductile at higher temperatures and eventually melt, but return to their original solid state upon cooling. Similar to metals, polymers are frequently tested under uniaxial tensile loading, resulting in load versus elongation data, which in turn may be used to derive the stress versus strain relationship of the material. Engineering stress is defined as the instantaneous axial load P divided by the initial cross-sectional area A0 of the sample: " = length divided by the initial length: " =

P . Engineering strain is defined as the net change in AO

#l l $ l0 . True strain and stress take into account the = l0 l0

! softening of a material as it is deformed. True stress is defined as the instantaneous axial load P !cross-sectional area A: " divided by the instantaneous =

#l& P # P &# A0 & = % (% ( = " % ( = " (1 + ) ) and may A $ A0 '$ A ' $ l0 '
dl = ln(1 + " ). l0 l
l

be related to engineering stress as if volume is assumed constant [2]. True strain is defined as the integral of the instantaneous ratio between change in length and current length: " = ! 4.0 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS

For the Uniaxial Tensile Loading experiment, we used a 150-kN-force Instron machine ! applying a maximum load of 1.5 kN to ensure safety and to protect the machine. Additionally, a pair of stop pins was placed to constrain the movement of the machine for safety purposes. The Instron machine was controlled by a work panel and computer workstation. $

The test specimen dimensions for a standard tensile test were defined by ASTM code B5576utilizing UHMWPE with rectangular cross-sections. UHMWPE is a thermoelastic polymer with viscoelastic properties such as a dependency on strain rate and stress relaxation. For the experiment, the following steps were taken for each test specimen: 1. The initial dimensions of the tensile test specimens were measured and recorded. 2. After the Instron machine was turned on and software began running, the specified tensile test program was opened which included testing parameters. 3. The test specimen was loaded and clamped to the Instron machines V-jaw. 4. Once zeroed, the test was initialized. For the stress relaxation experiment, the specimen was kept at the given load for a specified time. For the uniaxial tensile loading experiment 5. After the test was completed, the data was saved, load removed (if the specimen did not facture) and the test specimen was removed for examination. Test Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 5.0 RESULTS The graphs and tables documenting our results are shown below: Movement Monotonic Monotonic Monotonic Stop @ 1.5kN Load Hold Extension Stop @1.5kN Load hold Extension Stop @ 100% Strain Hold Extension Rate (mm/min) 15 50 500 50 250 50 Break Yes Yes Yes No No No Time (sec.) N/A N/A N/A 600 600 600

Strain Rate (! ! [mm/min] 15 50 500

Elongation at Fracture ("f in %) 361.8 338.3 301.2

Stress at Fracture (!f) [MPa] 22.33 23.55 27.74

Modulus of Elasticity (E) [MPa] ~ 0.89 ~ 0.97 ~ 1.06

Necking? No No No

[Table 1] Summary of Failure Characteristics and Deformation Behavior The trend for our data is that given a strain, the stress increases with a faster strain rate: !500(") > !50(") > !15(") , for all values of " We calculated the modulus of elasticity by calculating the slope of the linear portion of the graph. E increases as ! increases. !!!! ! ! !! ! ! !! ! !!!!! ! ! !! ! !!!!! [Equation 1] The Maxwell model used to describe the stress relaxation. Strain Rate (! ! [mm/min] 15 50 250 !0 [MPa] 8.3362 7.932 11.342 !1 [MPa] 4.056 3.974 3.923 !2 [MPa] 3.990 3.386 3.961 #1 [s1] 15.47 12.83 16.12 #2 [s1] 189.3 183.1 178.8 t0 [s] 11.3 1.6 76.5

[Table 2] The stress relaxation parameters, determined by fitting the data to the Maxwell model !0 is the steady-state stress (the stress that acts on the specimen as t!"). t0 is the time at which stress relaxation begins to occur. !1 and !2 are stresses, and #1 and #2 are time constants.

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[Figure 1] The 6 specimens after testing 6.0 DISCUSSION For the uniaxial deformation case of UHMWPE in the first graph, our stress-strain diagram agrees with the theoretical case. A higher strain rate will have a higher Youngs modulus, yield strength, and fracture more quicklythis is due to the viscoelasticity of the UHMWPE material. When the strain rate is faster, the specimen acts more brittle because it does not have time to adequately reorient its microstructure. It is apparent from [Table 1] that both Youngs Modulus and the yield strength increase as the strain rate increases. Elongation at fracture also decreases as the strain rate increases since the material does not have as much time to elongate at higher strain rates. All three tests exhibited negligible necking behavior, as shown in [Figure 1] above, because UHMWPE in general does not exhibit point deformitiesthe long molecules can stretch past each other as the material thins. The molecules can be thought of us as much more slippery when compared to an aluminum or steel sample which has a rigid crystalline lattice structure [2]. In the stress relaxation case of UHMWPE, stress decreases faster with a higher preload strain rate. This higher rate causes the sample to reach the 1.5kN point faster, which means '

the polymer chains will not have as much time to slip and form new bonds. When strain is held constant the polymer chains are then able to reorient, which we see as the relaxation effect. In the sample that was held at 100% strain, the starting stress is higher because the 1.5kN limit was not at a strain of 100%. From our graphs it is clear that for a higher strain rate, faster relaxation is observed. We can observe that tests 4 and 5 were both conducted with the same 1.5kN limit as they exhibited similar amounts of plastic deformation. We can also see in the case of the specimen prestrained by 100% and then held at constant elongation, the starting stress is much higher, as predicted. The curve-fit function in Matlab was then used to find the coefficients of the Maxwell equations. 7.0 CONCLUSIONS This lab demonstrated the how different the material properties of polymers are from metals. Unlike metals, strain rate greatly affects the stress-strain responses of polymers; a lower strain rate corresponds to a greater possible elongation of the material before fracture, but a lower yield and ultimate tensile strength. The effects of stress relaxation were also demonstrated by the experiments. Over time, a polymer sees a decrease in the stress required to maintain a constant elongation. This decrease in stress is also related to the strain rate of the preload; a higher strain rate corresponds to a faster stress relaxation response. The overall conclusion that we gain from this laboratory is that unlike metals, polymers exhibit variable material properties related to time and rate, and that these behaviors may be explained by their microstructural properties. 8.0 REFERENCES 1. N. E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 3rd edn (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007). 2. K. Komvopoulos, Mechanical Testing of Engineering Materials, 2nd edn (San Diego, CA: University Readers, 2011). 3. B. McCrum, Principles of Polymer Engineering, 2nd edn (Oxford University Press, USA: 2003).