ON TEMPERATURE FREQUENCY-ANALYSIS OF POLYMER DYNAMIC MECHANICAL-BEHAVIOR

The use of frequency-temperature superposition for parametric analysis of complex modulus data for polymeric damping materials is discussed. It is stated that, for many materials over limited temperature ranges, a linear, Arrhenius, relationship holds between log (shift factor) and inverse absolute temperature. On this basis, a reduced temperature concept is introduced, which parallels the better known reduced frequency concept. Simple statistical methods for estimating shift factors are introduced, which may enable users to produce more accurate reduced-frequency and reduced-temperature plots of complex modulus properties. The approach is illustrated for several polymeric material data sets described in the literature, including a commercial acrylic adhesive and an atactic polystyrene. © 1990.