Finite viscoelasticity and viscoplasticity of semicrystalline polymers

Observations are reported on low-density polyethylene in uniaxial tensile and compressive tests with various strain rates and in tensile and compressive relaxation tests with various strains. A constitutive model is developed for the time-dependent response of a semicrystalline polymer at arbitrary three-dimensional deformations with finite strains. A polymer is treated as an equivalent network of chains bridged by junctions (entanglements between chains in the amorphous phase and physical cross-links at the lamellar surfaces). Its viscoelastic behavior is associated with separation of active strands from temporary junctions and merging of dangling strands with the inhomogeneous network. The viscoplastic response is attributed to sliding of junctions between chains with respect to their reference positions. Constitutive equations are derived by using the laws of thermodynamics. The stress-strain relations involve 6 material constants that are found by matching the observations.