COMPONENTS OF NONELASTIC DEFORMATION IN AMORPHOUS GLASSY-POLYMERS

Non-elastic deformation of amorphous polymers was studied from strain recovery tests. In particular, a strain recovery master curve was buil t, which allowed estimation of the recovery times necessary to recover the whole non-elastic deformation. On such a curve, two non-elastic d eformations, one anelastic and one plastic, could be distinguished by their range of recovery time. The evolution of these two components wa s followed during a constant strain-rate test. This clearly showed the importance of the anelastic deformation. Finally, from a review of th e properties of these two components, a consistent description of defo rmation and recovery processes has been proposed.