Modelling the time-dependent mechanical properties of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers with Gumbel distribution functions

In this paper, we propose a simple modelling method that accurately describes the time-dependent viscoelastic behaviour of thermoplastic and thermosetting solid polymers. We performed short-term creep and stress relaxation tests on representative samples of three major classes of polymers: an amorphous, a semi-crystalline thermoplastic and a thermosetting polymer. Then, to investigate the relationship between the model parameters and the material composition, we also tested thermoplastic matrix composites with different plasticiser contents. From the short-term tests, master curves were constructed with the use of the time–temperature superposition principle. Then, the temperature dependence of the obtained shift factors was described using the Arrhenius model. The resulting creep compliance and relaxation modulus master curves were normalised and modelled with a two-parameter cumulative Gumbel distribution function (CDF) and its complementary distribution function (CCDF). For the creep and stress relaxation master curves, the median error of modelling was less than 16 % and 16.5 % in all cases, respectively. Furthermore, it was less than 2 % for the thermosetting polymer, making this model an excellent tool for describing the creep and stress relaxation behaviour of thermosetting systems. In the case of the plasticised composites, we found a strong relationship between the material composition and the location parameter of the Gumbel model. Based on this, we developed a method that can be used to estimate the evolution of the creep compliance curve for any arbitrary OLA content (between 0 wt% and 16 wt%) at any desired temperature (between 22 °C and 70 °C). • Long-term viscoelastic behaviour can be modelled with Gumbel distribution function. • The location parameter of the model can be related to the material composition. • The median error for creep over 32 years was less than 2 % for the tested thermoset.