Journal article
Strain softening of nano-scale fuzzy interfaces causes Mullins effect in thermoplastic polyurethane.
- Abstract:
- The strain-induced softening of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPUs), known as the Mullins effect, arises from their multi-phase structure. We used the combination of small- and wide- angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) during in situ repeated tensile loading to elucidate the relationship between molecular architecture, nano-strain, and macro-scale mechanical properties. Insights obtained from our analysis highlight the importance of the 'fuzzy interface' between the hard and soft regions that governs the structure evolution at nanometre length scales and leads to macroscopic stiffness reduction. We propose a hierarchical Eshelby inclusion model of phase interaction mediated by the 'fuzzy interface' that accommodates the nano-strain gradient between hard and soft regions and undergoes tension-induced softening, causing the Mullins effect that becomes apparent in TPUs even at moderate tensile strains.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.8MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/s41598-017-00904-3
Authors
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Journal:
- Scientific Reports More from this journal
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 1
- Pages:
- 916
- Publication date:
- 2017-04-01
- Acceptance date:
- 2017-03-16
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2045-2322
- Pmid:
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28428544
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
pubs:691064
- UUID:
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uuid:fb911d9c-0b42-4404-bab1-04f0b95a8e4d
- Local pid:
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pubs:691064
- Source identifiers:
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691064
- Deposit date:
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2017-10-05
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Korsunsky et al
- Copyright date:
- 2017
- Notes:
- © The Author(s) 2017. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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