Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.58, No.6, 876-885, 2018
Unique shape memory behavior of polyolefinic blends with special reference to creep behavior, stress relaxation, and melt rheological study
Creep response, stress relaxation behavior, and melt rheological study of the shape memory polymer blend based on EOC-EPDM has been studied in details. In this study, especially the effect of the crosslinks formation in presence of electron beam on the creep response, melt rheological study and stress relaxation behavior has been reported. With increase of electron beam dose, creep response becomes lower and the creep compliance value also comes down. Higher resistance creep response of the radiation crosslinked blends indicates the superior shape recovery behavior of the blends. Stress relaxation behavior of the crosslinked blend also shows the lower decay of stress value with time for higher radiation crosslinked blend. The lower relaxation ratio of the highly radiation crosslinked blend also supports the superior shape recovery behavior of the crosslinked blend. Apart from, melt rheological study shows the higher storage modulus value and higher complex viscosity of the radiation crosslinked blend which also supports the formation of higher crosslinked network structure. Tension set value also clearly indicates the better shape recovery behavior of the crosslinked blend. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 58:876-885, 2018. (c) 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers