Thermo-viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior of high-density polyethylene

Observations are reported on high-density polyethylene in uniaxial tensile tests with constant strain rates and relaxation tests at various temperatures ranging from 25 to 90 °C. A constitutive model is derived for the nonlinear viscoelastic and viscoplastic behavior of semi-crystalline polymers at three-dimensional deformations. Adjustable parameters in the stress–strain relations are found by fitting the experimental data. It is demonstrated that (i) the model correctly approximates the observations and (ii) material parameters are independent of strain rate and change consistently with temperature.