Abstract
Temperature influences the mechanical behaviour of polymers, but also - vice versa - deformation itself can cause a temperature change. This is a mutual effect which is well known to prevail especially in polymers at increased deformation rates. However, it is often not regarded in the analysis of material behaviour. The thermo-mechanical effect can be roughly divided in the thermo elastic effect, which is reversible, and the irreversible heat dissipation effect which is related to plastic deformation. In this paper the test setup for the thermo-mechanical analysis, consisting of a servo hydraulic testing machine and an infrared camera for the real time temperature field measurement, is presented. Tests were performed on different polymers under monotonic tensile test conditions. The various thermo-mechanical effects which can appear in polymers and the influence of the loading rate are exemplarily shown and discussed. Furthermore, a thermo-mechanic model is presented which allows the separation of the thermo elastic and the dissipative heat contributions. The test data of two different polymers are closer analysed using this model and the results are discussed. Aim of this analysis finally shall be the development of a new approach for the definition of a material damage point.
