Large-strain time-temperature equivalence and adiabatic heating of polyethylene

Time-temperature equivalence is a well-known phenomenon in time-dependent material response, where rapid events at a moderate temperature are indistinguishable from some occurring at modest rates but elevated temperatures. However, there is as-yet little elucidation of how well this equivalence holds for substantial plastic strains. In this work, we demonstrate time-temperature equivalence over a large range in a previously studied high-density polyethylene formulation (HDPE). At strain-rates exceeding 0.1/s, adiabatic heating confounds the comparison of nominally isothermal material response, apparently violating time-temperature equivalence. Strain-rate jumps can be employed to access the instantaneous true strain rate without heating. Adiabatic heating effects were isolated by comparing a locus of isothermal instantaneous flow stress measurements from strain-rate jumps up to 1/s with the predicted equivalent states at 0.01/s and 0.001/s in compression. Excellent agreement between the isothermal jump condition locus and the quasi-static tests was observed up to 50% strain, yielding one effective isothermal plastic response for each material for a given time-temperature equivalent state. These results imply that time-temperature equivalence can be effectively used to predict the deformation response of polymers during extreme mechanical events (large strain and high strain-rate) from measurements taken at reduced temperatures and nominal strain-rates in the laboratory.