Weakly nonlinear creep of amorphous polymers near their glass transition: comparisons between models and experiment
Abstract
The nonlinear mechanics of amorphous polymers near the glass transition reveals a stress-induced acceleration of stress relaxation of nano-metric sub-units. Recent theoretical work predicts that the local acceleration within these nano-domains should scale as the exponential of the squared local stress, a behavior now supported by experiments. However, this local dynamics has some complex consequences on the macroscopic mechanical response, as dynamical heterogeneities generate complex stress and strain fields in polymers close to the glass transition. In this study we consider the nonlinear creep of an amorphous polymer near its glass transition and evaluate the relation between local and global acceleration and the emerging load-carrying structure, by comparing experimental data with predictions of three models of increasing complexity: a two-state (2S) model, a self-consistent (SC) model and a finite-element (FEM) model. The experimentally observed trend of accelerated creep under increasing applied stress is reproduced by the SC and FEM models, while the 2S model overestimates stress localization. The macroscopic, homogenized acceleration is predicted to be close to the microscopic one, albeit with an apparent yield stress that depends on compliance. The FEM model evidences the development of a load carrying substructure that occupies a small fraction of the total material volume driven by the interaction of sub-domains. This work shows that complexity and heterogeneity emerge due to nonlinear interactions and that their adequate representation is essential for predicting the macroscopic mechanical response of amorphous polymers near their glass transition.
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BibTeX
@article{romanfaure2026weakly,
title = {{Weakly nonlinear creep of amorphous polymers near their glass transition: comparisons between models and experiment}},
author = {Martin Roman-Faure and Zhaocheng Zhang and Catalin Picu and Antoine Chateauminois and François Lequeux},
journal = {European Physical Journal E: Soft matter and biological physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1140/epje/s10189-026-00646-z},
eprint = {2608.28055},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05793681v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Weakly nonlinear creep of amorphous polymers near their glass transition: comparisons between models and experiment
AU - Martin Roman-Faure
AU - Zhaocheng Zhang
AU - Catalin Picu
AU - Antoine Chateauminois
AU - François Lequeux
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - European Physical Journal E: Soft matter and biological physics
DO - 10.1140/epje/s10189-026-00646-z
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05793681v1
AB - The nonlinear mechanics of amorphous polymers near the glass transition reveals a stress-induced acceleration of stress relaxation of nano-metric sub-units. Recent theoretical work predicts that the local acceleration within these nano-domains should scale as the exponential of the squared local stress, a behavior now supported by experiments. However, this local dynamics has some complex consequences on the macroscopic mechanical response, as dynamical heterogeneities generate complex stress and strain fields in polymers close to the glass transition. In this study we consider the nonlinear creep of an amorphous polymer near its glass transition and evaluate the relation between local and global acceleration and the emerging load-carrying structure, by comparing experimental data with predictions of three models of increasing complexity: a two-state (2S) model, a self-consistent (SC) model and a finite-element (FEM) model. The experimentally observed trend of accelerated creep under increasing applied stress is reproduced by the SC and FEM models, while the 2S model overestimates stress localization. The macroscopic, homogenized acceleration is predicted to be close to the microscopic one, albeit with an apparent yield stress that depends on compliance. The FEM model evidences the development of a load carrying substructure that occupies a small fraction of the total material volume driven by the interaction of sub-domains. This work shows that complexity and heterogeneity emerge due to nonlinear interactions and that their adequate representation is essential for predicting the macroscopic mechanical response of amorphous polymers near their glass transition.
SN - 1292-8941
SN - 1292-895X
ER -