The Continuum Approach to the Description of Semi-Crystalline Polymers Deformation Regimes: The Role of Dynamic and Translational Defects

This paper presents a new approach to describe the mechanical behavior of semi-crystalline polymers, the plastic deformation of which is determined by their two-phase structure. To describe the plastic behavior of semi-crystalline polymers, a two-phase model is used. In the framework of this model, one phase is in a hard (crystalline) state, and the other in a soft (amorphous) state. The two-phase material is modeled by a single-phase homogeneous continuum based on the approximation of the effective medium. It is assumed that two infinitely close material points of the continuum are connected in series by elastic and viscous bonds, which corresponds to the Maxwell model. It is shown that, in this case, the Maxwell continuum is a pseudo-Euclidean space. Generalizing the definition of defects from a three-dimensional space to a four-dimensional pseudo-Euclidean space, we obtained a dynamic system of nonlinear, interrelated equations to describe the behavior of translational-type defects in the solid phase and dynamic defects in the amorphous phase. As an example of an application for these equations, the phenomenon of creep under uniaxial loading is considered. It is shown that the formalism of the proposed two-phase model makes it possible to describe creep phenomenon regularities, which correspond to both the aging theory and the flow theory.