Testing and Modeling of Polymers for Solid Mechanics Simulations

Advanced and accurate modelling of time- and temperature-dependent response of thermoplastics, elastomers, TPEs, composites, and foams.

Modern solid mechanics FE codes have built-in, advanced material models that can capture the complex behavior of polymers, including rate-dependent yield, plasticity, creep, stress-relaxation, and anisotropy. Designing your part without taking these into account can lead to extra iterations in the design cycle, field failures, or overdesign, costing additional money to manufacture.

Using advanced, modern test methods can enable simulation and test engineers to capture all these complex material effects, but measuring the mechanical behavior is the first step. Using your data to select and calibrate a material model will enable engineers to predict potential failures earlier in the design.

On this four-session online course, you’ll learn how to design a test plan, how to capture the test plan, and then calibrate your material model. You’ll then see the power of these models in your simulations to enable more accurate FE simulations. We’ll cover the behavior of all polymers, including elastomers, TPEs/TPVs/TPUs, thermoplastic and thermosets, fluoropolymers, adhesives, and composites. We’ll discuss hyperelastic material models, linear and non-linear viscoelastic models, and non-linear viscoplastic material models, including when to use each one.