The response to compressive mechanical loading of the thermosetting system epoxy polymer based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and an aromatic amine hardener, 4,4'-methylenedianiline (DDM) has been experimentally investigated as a function of strain rate and temperature, ranging from 0.0025 to 2500 s (1) and from room temperature to 100 degrees C, all below the glass transition temperature. Results showed that both the elastic modulus and the compression strength of the material significantly increased with strain rate and decreased with temperature. Quasi-static tests, performed in electromechanical machines, and dynamic tests, carried out in a Hopkinson bar, were compared and simultaneously analyzed to generate a master curve representative of the material yielding, assuming the strain rate-temperature superposition principle. Experimental data were fitted to equations based on thermally activated models for polymers. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.