Cyclic viscoplasticity of high-density polyethylene/montmorillonite clay nanocomposite

Observations are reported on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and nanocomposite, where HDPE matrix is reinforced with montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay, in uniaxial cyclic tensile tests with various cross-head speeds ranging from I to 50 mm/min. Each cycle of deformation involves tension up to the maximal strain epsilon(max) = 0.1 and retraction down to the zero stress. The study focuses on low-cycle deformation programs with N = 5 cycles in each test. A constitutive model is derived for the viscoplastic response of polymers at three-dimensional cyclic deformations with small strains. Given a strain rate and a maximum strain, the stress-strain relations involve eight material constants that are found by fitting the experimental data. Good agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the results of numerical simulation. It is shown that the rate of cyclic deformation affects the adjustable parameters in a physically plausible way. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.