This project concerns the Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) of a polymer.

This method aims to

evaluate the visco-elastic behaviour of a material. A sinusoidal stress is applied and the strain in the
material is measured, allowing one to determine the complex modulus. A frequency sweep of the stress
can be performed, showing the evolution of the stress-strain evolutions, and leading to variations in the
complex modulus. The frequencies can usually vary between 0.1 and 100 Hz. This frequency sweep can
also be performed at higher or lower temperatures. Lower temperatures are usually equivalent for
polymers to higher frequencies. This time-frequency relation is usually modelled with Arrhenius
equation through the energy of activation (explained in (1), (2))

However, classic tensile tests are performed using a strain rate and not a frequency. As a first
4𝑓∆𝐿
approximation, the equivalence between those two parameters can be considered as: 𝜀̇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = 𝐿0

The objective of this subject is to study the equivalence between strain rate and frequencies for DMA
using Maxwell model, in the same method as in (3).

1. Dorléans V, Delille R, Notta-Cuvier D, Lauro F, Michau E. Time-temperature superposition in

viscoelasticity and viscoplasticity for thermoplastics. Polym Test. 1 sept 2021;101:107287.

2. Plota A, Masek A. Lifetime Prediction Methods for Degradable Polymeric Materials—A Short
Review. Materials. janv 2020;13(20):4507.

3. Zeltmann SE, Bharath Kumar BR, Doddamani M, Gupta N. Prediction of strain rate sensitivity of
high density polyethylene using integral transform of dynamic mechanical analysis data. Polymer.
28 sept 2016;101:1‑6.