Dynamic mechanical testing of the creep and relaxation properties of polyvinylidene fluoride

The paper concerns material testing and characterizations of the time-depen dent properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a thin film piezoelectri c polymer. The study is based on the assumptions of linear viscoelastic the ory of hereditary type and time-temperature equivalence principle. A develo ped experimental program involves quasi-static creep tests and dynamic mech anical tests, The results of this study validate the assumptions of linear viscoelasticity in application to PVDF thin films and provide consistent em pirical database regarding the creep and relaxation properties of PVDF in t he material directions parallel and perpendicular to the orientation of the aligned molecular chains of the polymer. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.