Strain rate effect on the thermomechanical behavior of a thermoset shape memory polymer

Driven by conformational entropy, a shape memory polymer (SMP) is capable of memorizing typical programming information, such as level of induced strain, deformation sequence and temperature profile. Because strain rate is one of the variables during programming, it is desirable to know whether the strain rate effect can be memorized or not. In this study, the effects of programming strain rate on the thermomechanical behavior of a thermoset SMP were investigated. A polystyrene based thermoset SMP was programmed under various strain rates (1500, 0.1 and 0.0001 s−1) in the glassy state, with the same prestrain level and temperature profiles. The thermomechanical response and some crucial physical properties were investigated via multiple characterization techniques. The test results indicate that programming strain rate has an influence on the glass transition temperature. A higher strain rate consistently leads to higher relaxation of prestrain and thus lower strain fixity. Moreover, the recovery strain and recovery strain rate rely on the pseudo-plastic strain during programming, which is associated with the programming strain rate. (paper)