A Continuum Damage Model for Viscoelastic Materials
Abstract
This paper presents a continuum damage model for viscoelastic materials. Viscoelastic response in the presence of distributed micro-flaws occurs in solid propellants and is likely to be encountered in thermoplastic composites. In contrast to rock and metals, polymeric materials absorb various kinds of solvents, which may damage the polymeric composites in a variety of ways. In the case of water absorption by epoxy-based composites, such damage was noted by several investigators. Damage is expressed by two symmetric, second- rank tensors which are related to the total areas of active and passive micro- cracks within a representative volume element of the multi-fractured material. Viscoelasticity is introduced through scalar-valued internal state variables that represent the internal degrees of freedom associated with the motions of long-chain polymeric molecules. The constitutive relations are established from basic considerations of continuum mechanics and irreversible thermodynamics, with detailed expressions derived for the case of initially isotropic materials. It is shown that damage causes softening of the material moduli as well as changes in material symmetry. The special cases of uni-axial damage under uni-axial stress and the interaction of damage with moisture diffusion are also considered.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA189426
Entities
People
- Y. Weitsman
Organizations
- Texas A&M University