Thermomechanical characterization of shape memory polymers Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • This study presents the testing methodology and equipment used for thermomechanical characterization of a shape memory polymer (SMP). The experiments performed include uniaxial tensile tests of 10, 25, 50, and 100% extension. The ability for a SMP to recover an applied deformation, known as the shape memory effect, requires a complex thermomechanical cycle and experimental setup. A visual-photographic apparatus was used to measure and record the distributed strain field in the gage section. Using this strain measurement system, the deformation is captured at multiple material points and compared for homogeneity. The results from representative tensile tests are presented, in which the complete shape memory effect is captured for dogbone specimens. Finally, the stress-strain and strain-time relationships are compared for different values of applied extension.

published proceedings

  • 19th International Conference on Adaptive Structures and Technologies 2008, ICAST 2008

author list (cited authors)

  • Volk, B. L., & Lagoudas, D. C.

complete list of authors

  • Volk, BL||Lagoudas, DC

publication date

  • January 2008