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Simulations of aging and plastic deformation in polymer glasses

Mya Warren* and Jörg Rottler

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada

  • *mya@phas.ubc.ca
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Phys. Rev. E 76, 031802 – Published 11 September, 2007

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.76.031802

Abstract

We study the effect of physical aging on the mechanical properties of a model polymer glass using molecular dynamics simulations. The creep compliance is determined simultaneously with the structural relaxation under a constant uniaxial load below yield at constant temperature. The model successfully captures universal features found experimentally in polymer glasses, including signatures of mechanical rejuvenation. We analyze microscopic relaxation time scales and show that they exhibit the same aging characteristics as the macroscopic creep compliance. In addition, our model indicates that the entire distribution of relaxation times scales identically with age. Despite large changes in mobility, we observe comparatively little structural change except for a weak logarithmic increase in the degree of short-range order that may be correlated with an observed decrease in aging with increasing load.

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Phys. Rev. E 76, 031802– Published 11 September, 2007
  • Received 10 April 2007

© 2007 American Physical Society

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