Mechanical and Optical Characterization of Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride

Mechanical and birefringent properties of plasticized polyvinyl ehloride in the glass transition region were determined by means of quasistatic tests at different temperatures and sinusoidal oscillation tests at room temperature. In the former method, mechanical creep and photocreep tests were conducted at temperatures ranging from 80 to 115°F. The method of reduced variables (temperature-time equivalence principle) was used to obtain continuous curves for relaxation modulus and stress fringe value corresponding to room temperature and extending up to 24 decades of time. The resulting curves show a broad transition region for the material. The shift function was plotted versus temperature and was found to be about the same for both mechanical and optical properties. Short-time (dynamic) properties obtained by the temperature-time equivalence principle were compared with those obtained at room temperature by direct sinusoidal oscillation tests at different frequencies. The complex modulus and complex stress fringe value were determined as functions of frequency and converted to a relaxation modulus and stress fringe value as functions of time by means of an approximate interrelationship. The validity of the temperature-time equivalence principle in this case was proven by the good agreement between these results and those obtained from creep tests at different temperatures.