Cyclic viscoelastoplasticity of polypropylene/nanoclay composites

Observations are reported on isotactic polypropylene/organically modified nanoclay hybrids with concentrations of filler ranging from 0 to 5 wt.% in cyclic tensile tests with a stress-controlled program (oscillations between various maximum stresses and the zero minimum stress). A pronounced effect of nanofiller is demonstrated: reinforcement with 2 wt.% of clay results in strong reduction of maximum and minimum strains per cycle and growth of number of cycles to failure compared with neat polypropylene. To rationalize these findings, a constitutive model is developed in cyclic viscoelasticity and viscoplasticity of polymer nanocomposites. Adjustable parameters in the stress-strain relations are found by fitting experimental data. The model correctly describes the growth of the ratcheting strain and shows that fatigue failure is driven by a pronounced increase in plastic strain in the crystalline phase. To assess the influence of loading conditions on the changes in the material parameters, experimental data on polypropylene are studied in cyclic tests with a strain-controlled program (oscillations between fixed maximum and minimum strains) and a mixed program (oscillations between various maximum strains and the zero minimum stress). Numerical simulation confirms the ability of the model to predict the evolution of stress-strain diagrams with the number of cycles.