Polymer, Vol.50, No.16, 4048-4055, 2009
Long-term creep of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) subjected to complex thermal histories: The effects of nonisothermal physical aging
The long-term viscoelastic behavior of polymeric materials used below the glass transition temperature (T-g) is greatly affected by physical aging. In contrast to isothermal physical aging, long-term response under nonisothermal history has received far less attention. This paper reports experimental results and analytical methods of long-term creep behavior of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) subjected to complex thermal histories in a temperature range below T-g. To characterize the effects of aging, creep tests were performed using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). Besides the long-term data, short-term creep tests in identical thermal conditions were also analyzed; these were utilized with effective time theory to predict long-term response under both isothermal and nonisothermal temperature histories. The long-term compliance after a series of temperature changes was predicted by the effective time theory using the KAHR-a(te) model to obtain nonisothermal physical aging shift factors. Comparison of theoretical predictions with experimental data shows good agreement for various thermal histories. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.