| Abstract: | Polymethyl methacrylate, polyacetal and polypropylene samples were subjected to constant-load uniaxial creep in tension and compression up to 3% strain in times up to 105 sec. A higher creep resistance was obtained in compression compared with tension due to the influence of free volume on mobility. Square wave cyclic creep tests alternately in tension and equal compression for dwell times of 10, 100, 1000 sec were also conducted on each material up to a total time of 105 sec. Under low cyclic creep stresses tension creep cancelled out compression creep in each successive half cycle so that there was no overall increase in creep strain as cycling proceeded. The unidirectional creep data was used successfully to predict this behavior. At higher cyclic stress levels creep strain range increased steadily throughout the test indicating a softening process. A few tests were conducted in unidirectional and cyclic stress relaxation on polymethyl methacrylate. |
