In this paper, fractional and non-fractional viscoelastic models for elastomeric materials are derived and analyzed in comparison to experimental results. The viscoelastic models are derived by expanding thermodynamic balance equations for both fractal and non-fractal media. The order of the fractional time derivative is shown to strongly affect the accuracy of the viscoelastic constitutive predictions. Model validation uses experimental data describing viscoelasticity of the dielectric elastomer Very High Bond (VHB) 4910. Since these materials are known for their broad applications in smart structures, it is important to characterize and accurately predict their behavior across a large range of time scales. Whereas integer order viscoelastic models can yield reasonable agreement with data, the model parameters often lack robustness in prediction at different deformation rates. Alternatively, fractional order models of viscoelasticity provide an alternative framework to more accurately quantify complex rate-dependent behavior. Prior research that has considered fractional order viscoelasticity lacks experimental validation and contains limited links between viscoelastic theory and fractional order derivatives. To address these issues, we use fractional order operators to experimentally validate fractional and non-fractional viscoelastic models in elastomeric solids using Bayesian uncertainty quantification. The fractional order model is found to be advantageous as predictions are significantly more accurate than integer order viscoelastic models for deformation rates spanning four orders of magnitude.

Fractional viscoelasticity in fractal and non-fractal media: Theory, experimental validation, and uncertainty analysis

In this work, a physical connection between the fractional time derivative and fractal geometry of fractal media is developed and applied to viscoelasticity and thermal diffusion in elastomers. Integral to this formulation is the application of both the fractal dimension and the spectral dimension which characterizes diffusion in fractal media. The methodology extends the generalized molecular theory of Rouse and Zimm where generalized Gaussian structures (GGSs) replace the Rouse matrix with the generalized Gaussian Rouse matrix (GRM). Importantly, the Zimm model is extended to fractal media where the new relaxation formulation contains internal state variables that naturally depend on the fractional time derivative of deformation. Through the use of thermodynamic laws in fractal media, we derive the linear fractional model of viscoelasticity based on both spectral and fractal dimensions. This derivation shows how the order of the fractional derivative in the linear fractional model of viscoelasticity is a rate dependent material property that is strongly correlated with fractal and spectral dimensions in fractal media. To validate the correlation between fractional rates and fractal material structure, we measure the viscoelasticity and thermal diffusion of two different dielectric elastomers: Very High Bond (VHB) 4910 and VHB 4949. Using Bayesian uncertainty quantification (UQ) based on uniaxial stress–strain measurements, the fractional order of the derivative in the linear fractional model of viscoelasticity is quantified. Two dimensional fractal dimensions are also independently quantified using the box counting method. Lastly, the diffusion equation in fractal media is inferred from experiments using Bayesian UQ to quantify the spectral dimension by heating the polymer locally with a laser beam and quantifying thermal diffusion. Comparing theory to experiments, a strong correlation is found between the viscoelastic fractional order obtained from stress–strain measurements in comparisons with independent predictions of fractional viscoelasticity based on the fractal structure and fractional thermal diffusion rates.

A physical interpretation of fractional viscoelasticity based on the fractal structure of media: Theory and experimental validation

Bayesian uncertainty analysis of finite deformation viscoelasticity

A non-linear viscoelastic model for finite deformations of dielectric elastomer membranes using Christensen's theory of viscoelasticity is developed. For a time efficient numerical solution, the constitutive integral equations with a time dependent kernel (relaxation modulus) are reformulated into a recurrence form using Feng's recurrence formula and solution for the principal stretches are obtained. Uniaxial constant load tensile tests are conducted and compared with theoretical predictions. The model is also valid for small linear deformations.

Viscoelastic model of dielectric elastomer membranes

A constitutive model for the mechanical properties of rock

In the light of a three-chain model of statistical network theories of rubberlike elastic models, it is assumed that the free energy function of incompressible viscoelastic polymer solids is a separable, symmetric function of the principle stretch ratios and the hidden thermodynamic coordinates along the same directions. This assumption leads to a characterization of those viscoelastic polymer solids which exhibit the property of factorizability between the time and strain functions.

S. T. J. Peng

Papers

Nonlinear viscoelasticity and relaxation phenomena of polymer solids