Elastoviscous Properties of Amorphous Polymers in the Transition Region. I.
Abstract Experimental data on the stress-relaxation modulus Er,T(t) of a GR-S gum vulcanizate at a series of temperatures in the transition region are presented, and a “master curve” of log Q(t/K) vs. log (t/K) is thereby constructed. The characteristic relaxation time, K, for each temperature is defined and tabulated. A distinctive temperature, Td, is observed at which the activation energy for K is a maximum. Analytical expressions are given which describe the GR-S master-curve with great accuracy. The same analytical procedure can be successfully applied to data previously obtained for polymethyl methacrylate. A reduced equation is proposed which describes the time and temperature dependence of Q(t/K) in the transition region for both polymers.