Low Temperature Relaxation Phenomena in Rubber-Like Polymers Subjected to Low Deformation
Abstract 1. A new relaxation process was discovered which explains the change, at critical tensile stresses (0.1–0.5 kg/cm2), in the elasticity of rubber-like polymers subjected to small deformations. This new process is characterized by relatively low activation energies (weak dependence of temperature on relaxation time) and kinetic units that are large (strong dependence of relaxation time on stress). The kinetic stress is a function of the temperature and for rubbery polymers it is reduced to zero, at 40° –60° C. 2. The mechanism of this phenomenon is elucidated by the existence of ordered, supermolecular microregions forming, with the free chains of 3-dimensional networks, supplementary bundles of non-chemical origin which disintegrate under, critical stresses. The activities observed are analogous to the processes of forced-elastic deformation in the same polymers in the glassy state. The critical stress is analogous to the limit of forced elasticity at low second order (glass) transition temperatures.