ELASTIC-MODULI OF GLASSY-POLYMERS AT LOW STRAINS

The short time moduli of polystyrene, poly(methyl methyacrylate), and polycarbonate have been measured in the glassy state. The main methods used were as follows: (1) The Young's modulus of a strip was derived by extrapolating to infinite length. (2) A bidirectional strain gauge was used for Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio. (3) A unidirectional bulk modulus was measured by the method of Warfield. The results obtained made it possible to determine all the isotropic moduli including the bulk modulus, and these are compared with those reported in the literature. Poisson's ratio (v) was found to increase with temperature in all cases. For poly(methyl methacrylate), where results reported in the literature vary widely, our values agreed with the lower reported figures (v < 0.36). The Young's modulus of poly(methyl methacrylate) is found to be more dependent on temperature and frequency than with the other two polymers. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.