A Study of Deformation Behavior in Polymer

The mechanical properties of polymers are strongly influenced by meso-scale (10-9-10-3 m) structure such as entanglement, molecular weight distribution, orientation, etc. It is well known that sunlight induces the UV degradation of polymers. The mechanical properties of polymer are strongly influenced by UV irradiation because of chemical change of meso-scale structure. However the detail relationship between the mechanical properties and chemical change of meso-scale structure is not clear. In this study, it is aimed to clear this relationship by the simulation. Network models considered the meso-scale structure are constructed. Degradation is described to delete the chain elements in the network model. Large strain deformation of these network models is evolved via molecular dynamics analysis improved by us. It is possible to describe the degradation by this method.