The role of bonding in the tensile creep behavior of paper was analyzed. This was accomplished by producing handsheets at a range of different bonding levels through manipulation of relative bonded area and specific bond strength. This was done by varying the level of wet pressing (to change relative bonded area) and using debonding and bonding agents (to change specific bond strength). Once manufactured, sheets underwent an extensive battery of physical testing and creep testing. Creep testing was conducted under constant humidity and cyclic humidity (accelerated creep) conditions. Microscopic analysis techniques were also employed to visually study bonded area loss from creep strain. Two mathematical models (one empirical and one rheological) were created to isolate, account for, and incorporate bonding into predicting tensile creep behavior in paper. Overall, the results from this thesis show that the role of bonding in tensile creep behavior (and accelerated creep behavior) is no different than its role in stress-strain behavior, which is a new finding. This means the bonding influence on tensile creep behavior is related to sheet efficiency and how effectively stress is distributed within the structure, bonded area loss is a strain-induced phenomenon and bonding is not the cause of accelerated creep behavior.

No description available.

A obtenção de resultados de fluência em geossintéticos (isócronas e curva de ruptura por fluência) requer longo tempo de observação e rigoroso controle laboratorial. Dessa forma, muitos produtos disponíveis no mercado brasileiro não foram ensaiados quanto a este fenômeno dificultando sobremaneira a elaboração de projetos mais seguros e econômicos. Há, portanto, a necessidade de estudos não só do fenômeno da fluência em si, mas também de métodos de ensaio que facilitem e acelerem a obtenção das curvas de fluência. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo da fluência de dois geotêxteis não tecidos, um de polipropileno e outro de poliéster, através de ensaios acelerados, utilizando-se o processo denominado Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM). Os valores obtidos pelo método SIM foram comparados aos valores obtidos nos ensaios convencionais, realizados segundo a norma ISO 13431. Os resultados experimentais indicam que os ensaios acelerados, utilizando o método SIM, foram capazes de simular o fenômeno da fluência com boa precisão e, portanto, podem trazer uma grande economia de tempo, além de facilitar e agilizar a caracterização da fluência de geossintéticos. / Creep tests are time consuming and require rigorous laboratory testing control. Because of that many products commercially available in Brazil were not tested regarding this phenomenon. The absence of creep data is an obstacle to the design soil reinforced structures. It is therefore required continuous research effort not only to elucidate creep phenomenon but also to help in the development of test methods that ease and speed up the obtaining of creep curves. This paper presents a creep study carried out on two non-woven geotextiles (PP and PET) using temperature accelerated creep test, namely the Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM). The values obtained using the SIM method were compared to the ones obtained using conventional creep tests following the ISO 13431. The experimental results indicate that the accelerated creep tests, using the SIM method, were capable of simulating the creep phenomenon with good accuracy and, hence, they can bring a great deal of time saving to the characterization of creep in geosynthetics.

A obtenção de resultados de fluência em geossintéticos (isócronas e curva de ruptura por fluência) requer longo tempo de observação e rigoroso controle laboratorial. Dessa forma, muitos produtos disponíveis no mercado brasileiro não foram ensaiados quanto a este fenômeno dificultando sobremaneira a elaboração de projetos mais seguros e econômicos. Há, portanto, a necessidade de estudos não só do fenômeno da fluência em si, mas também de métodos de ensaio que facilitem e acelerem a obtenção das curvas de fluência. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo da fluência de dois geotêxteis não tecidos, um de polipropileno e outro de poliéster, através de ensaios acelerados, utilizando-se o processo denominado Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM). Os valores obtidos pelo método SIM foram comparados aos valores obtidos nos ensaios convencionais, realizados segundo a norma ISO 13431. Os resultados experimentais indicam que os ensaios acelerados, utilizando o método SIM, foram capazes de simular o fenômeno da fluência com boa precisão e, portanto, podem trazer uma grande economia de tempo, além de facilitar e agilizar a caracterização da fluência de geossintéticos. / Creep tests are time consuming and require rigorous laboratory testing control. Because of that many products commercially available in Brazil were not tested regarding this phenomenon. The absence of creep data is an obstacle to the design soil reinforced structures. It is therefore required continuous research effort not only to elucidate creep phenomenon but also to help in the development of test methods that ease and speed up the obtaining of creep curves. This paper presents a creep study carried out on two non-woven geotextiles (PP and PET) using temperature accelerated creep test, namely the Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM). The values obtained using the SIM method were compared to the ones obtained using conventional creep tests following the ISO 13431. The experimental results indicate that the accelerated creep tests, using the SIM method, were capable of simulating the creep phenomenon with good accuracy and, hence, they can bring a great deal of time saving to the characterization of creep in geosynthetics.

In this thesis, the focus has been on micro-mechanical mechanisms in polymer-based materials and structures. The first part of the thesis treats length-scale effects on polymer materials. Experiments have showed that the smaller the specimen, the stronger is the material. The length-scale effect was examined experimentally in two different polymers materials, polystyrene and epoxy. First micro-indentations to various depths were made on polystyrene. The experiments showed that length-scale effects in inelastic deformations exist in polystyrene. It was also possible to show a connection between the experimental findings and the molecular length. The second experimental study was performed on glass-sphere filled epoxy, where the damage development for tensile loading was investigated. It could be showed that the debond stresses increased with decreasing sphere diameter. The debonding grew along the interface and eventually these cracks kinked out into the matrix. It was found that the length to diameter ratio of the matrix cracks increased with increasing diameter. The experimental findings may be explained by a length-scale effect in the yield process which depends on the strain gradients. The second part of the thesis treats mechano-sorptive creep in paper, i.e. the acceleration of creep by moisture content changes. Paper can be seen as a polymer based composite that consists of a network of wood fibres, which in its turn are natural polymer composites. A simplified network model for mechano-sorptive creep has been developed. It is assumed that the anisotropic hygroexpansion of the fibres leads to large stresses at the fibre-fibre bonds when the moisture content changes. The resulting stress state will accelerate creep if the fibre material obeys a constitutive law that is non-linear in stress. Fibre kinks are included in order to capture experimental observations of larger mechano-sorptive creep effects in compression than in tension. Furthermore, moisture dependent material parameters and anisotropy are taken into account. Theoretical predictions based on the developed model are compared to experimental results for anisotropic paper both under tensile and compressive loading at varying moisture content. The important features in the experiments are captured by the model. Different kinds of drying conditions have also been examined. / QC 20100910