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ARTICLE

Computational Characterization and Evaluation of Deformation Behavior of Spherulite of High Density Polyethylene in Mesoscale Domain

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1 Kobe Univ., 1-1, Rokkodai,Nada Kobe JAPAN.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2005, 10(3), 239-248. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2005.010.239

Abstract

In this study, we clarified the micro- to mesoscopic deformation behavior of a semicrystalline polymer by employing a large-deformation finite element homogenization method. The crystalline plasticity theory with a penalty method for the inextensibility of the chain direction and the nonaffine molecular chain network theory were applied for the representation of the deformation behavior of the crystalline and amorphous phases, respectively, in the composite microstructure of the semicrystalline polymer. The 3D structure of lamellae in the spherulite of high-density polyethylene was modeled, and the tensile and compressive deformation behaviors were investigated. A series of computational simulations clarified the difference in the degree of strain hardening between tension and compression due to different directional chain orientations. In the spherulite, localized deformation occurred depending on the initial distribution of the lamella direction. Due to their interaction with their surrounding, the individual material points of the mesoscopic domain showed a conservative response as compared with that of the unit cell, and a nonuniform response depending on the location of a material point is observed; these are typical mesoscopic responses of semicrystalline polymers.

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