Publications

Constitutive models for rubber networks undergoing simultaneous crosslinking and scission

Budzien, Joanne L.; Lo, Chi S.; Curro, John G.; Thompson, Aidan P.; Grest, Gary S.

Constitutive models for chemically reacting networks are formulated based on a generalization of the independent network hypothesis. These models account for the coupling between chemical reaction and strain histories, and have been tested by comparison with microscopic molecular dynamics simulations. An essential feature of these models is the introduction of stress transfer functions that describe the interdependence between crosslinks formed and broken at various strains. Efforts are underway to implement these constitutive models into the finite element code Adagio. Preliminary results are shown that illustrate the effects of changing crosslinking and scission rates and history.