Dynamical mechanical thermal analysis of shape-memory polymers

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated to the dynamical mechanical thermal analysis of shape-memory polymers. Temperature obviously plays a major role in the mechanical properties of these materials; hence, the understanding of the physical phenomena driving the shape-memory effect is of first importance for the design of practical applications in which shape-memory polymers are used. The shape-memory effect being closely related to the viscoelastic behavior of the polymer, it is important to properly describe it with appropriate tools. The objective of this chapter is to describe characterization methods, models, and parameters identification techniques that can be easily used for the description of the thermomechanical behavior of SMPs. The associated models can easily be implemented in finite element codes for time- or frequency-domain simulations. The experimental results and all numerical values of the models are provided for three shape-memory polymers: The tBA/PEGDMA and a vitrimer, which can easily be manufactured according to the data provided in open literature, and a shape-memory polymer filament for 3D printing, which is available on the shelf.