MECHANICAL RELAXATION IN SOLID POLYMERS DESCRIBED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF HYDRODYNAMIC FLUCTUATION THEORY

Thermoactivated relaxation in solid polymers is described within the f ramework of a semiphenomenological theory explicitly taking into accou nt (unlike the other existing theories) the motion of neighbors of a m oving kinetic unit. A formula is obtained for the relaxation ductility controlled by the activation mechanism. The physical meaning of the c oncept of ''relaxator'' is determined. Relations between the proposed theory and the existing microscopic theories are considered. The possi bility to use the proposed theory for extracting information about the microscopic mechanism of relaxation is demonstrated.