Strain-hardening behavior of polycarbonate in the glassy state

This paper presents an experimental characterization of the three-dimensional strain-hardening response of polycarbonate in the glassy state. Using a special mechanical conditioning technique, large homogeneous deformations were obtained in tension, compression, and shear. The experimental results are compared to a number of existing network models. It was found that the state-of deformation dependence of the strain-hardening response was adequately described by neo-Hookean behavior with a sheer modulus G = 26 MPa. Up to the deformations applied in this study, no sign of a finite extensibility of the entanglement network was observed. (C) 2000 The Society of Rheology. [S0148-6055(00)01006-3].