| Abstract: | Fatigue Behaviour of Rigid Cellular Plastics The fatigue behaviour of crosslinked and non-crosslinked rigid cellular PVC had been investigated for tensile, compressive, and shear stresses, and displayed by means of Wöhler diagrams. In dynamic extension/compression loading, precompression shortens the life of the specimen, while pre-extension lengthens it - within certain limits. This behaviour can be explained by the different forms of the stress-strain curves in extension and compression. Detailed analysis of the hysteresis loops, including evaluation of the strains, energy uptake, and damping value, allows conclusions to be drawn about the behaviour of the material when subjected to dynamic loads and the degree of approach to failure. Although cellular plastics are poor thermal conductors there is very little rise in temperature when they are subjected to dynamic loads. |
