Experimental characterization of the volume strain of poly(vinylidene fluoride) in the region of homogeneous plastic deformation

Abstract

Abstract Damage to poly(vinylidene fluoride) was studied under uniaxial tension testing at different temperatures and strain rates. A satisfactory accuracy was reached with an original procedure for the assessment of the principal strains and volume strain. The semicrystalline polymer exhibited an increase in the volume strain with the true axial strain caused by material damage. This damage depended on the temperature and strain rate and was related to the whitening phenomenon generally observed. The use of the general ideas of Bucknall's model, based on the decomposition of the whole volume strain into three components, allowed the extraction of the component of the volume strain corresponding to microstructural mechanisms of plastic deformation other than shearing. Therefore, nucleation and growth stages of cavitation were revealed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2516–2522, 2002