Molecular dynamics simulation of deformation behavior in amorphous polymer: nucleation of chain entanglements and network structure under uniaxial tension (original) (raw)
Related papers
Virtual polymeric materials were created and used in computer simulations to study their behavior under uniaxial loads. Both single-phase materials of amorphous chains and two-phase polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) have been simulated using the molecular dynamics method. This analysis enables a better understanding of the molecular deformation mechanisms in these materials. It was confirmed that chain uncoiling and chain slippage occur concurrently in the materials studied following predominantly a mechanism dependent on the spatial arrangement of the chains (such as their orientation). The presence of entanglements between chains constrains the mechanical response of the material. The presence of a rigid second phase dispersed in the flexible amorphous matrix influences the mechanical behavior and properties. The role of this phase in reinforcement is dependent on its concentration and spatial distribution. However, this is achieved with the cost of increased material brittleness, as crack formation and propagation is favored. Results of our simulations are visualized in five animations.
2004
DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:
Europhysics Letters (EPL), 2005
Molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed for two amorphous polymers with extremely different mechanical properties, atactic polystyrene (PS) and bisphenol A polycarbonate (PC), in the isotropic state and under load. The glass transition temperatures, Young moduli, yield stresses and strain-hardening moduli are calculated and compared to the experimental data. Both chemistry-specific and mode-coupling aspects of the segmental mobility in the isotropic case and under the uniaxial deformation have been identified. The mobility of the PS segments in the deformation direction is increased drastically beyond the yield point. A weaker increase is observed for PC.
Molecular dynamics simulations are increasingly being used to investigate the structural evolution of polymers during mechanical deformation, but relatively few studies focus on the influence of boundary conditions on this evolution, in particular the dissipation of both heat and pressure through the periodic boundaries during deformation. The research herein explores how the tensile deformation of amorphous polyethylene, modelled with a united atom method potential, is influenced by heat and pressure dissipation. The stress-strain curves for the pressure dissipation cases (uniaxial tension) are in qualitative agreement with experiments and show that heat dissipation has a large effect on the strain hardening modulus calculated by molecular dynamics simulations. Moreover, in addition to quantifying the evolution of the energy associated with bonded and non-bonded terms as a function of strain, the evolution of stress associated with these different components in both the loading and non-loading directions was also calculated as a function of strain to give insight into how the stress state is altered within the elastic, yield, strain softening, and strain hardening regions. The energy partitioning shows that the majority of energy increase during deformation is associated with the non-bonded Van der Waal's interactions, similar to previous studies. The stress partitioning shows a competition between 'tensile' Van der Waal's interactions and 'compressive' bond stretching forces, with the characteristic yield stress peak clearly associated with the non-bonded stress. Subsequent analyses concentrates on the evolution of several internal structure metrics with strain: bond length, bond angle, dihedral conformation, chain orientation, and chain entanglement. The lack of heat dissipation had the largest effect on the strain hardening regime, where an increase in the calculated temperature correlated with faster chain alignment in the loading direction and more rapid conformation changes. In part, these observations demonstrate the role that heat and pressure dissipation play on deformation characteristics of amorphous polymers, particularly for the strain hardening regime.
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Uniaxial Deformation of Glassy Amorphous Atactic Polystyrene
Macromolecules, 2004
Molecular dynamics computer simulations have been carried out of a chemically realistic many-chain nonentangled model of glassy atactic polystyrene under the influence of uniaxial mechanical deformation. Both the initial elastic and the postyield (up to 100% of the deformation) behavior have been simulated. The Poisson ratio, the Young modulus, and the temperature dependence of the yield peak are well reproduced. The simulated strain-hardening modulus is in quantitative agreement with existing experiments. The deformationally induced anisotropy in the global and local segmental orientation is accompanied by an anisotropy of the local translational mobility: the mean-square translational displacement of the individual segments in the direction of the deformation is drastically increased just beyond the yield point as compared to the isotropic sample. The mechanical deformation of a quenched sample leads to an almost complete erasure of the aging history.