Development of a simplified three-dimensional viscoelastic constitutive model for thermally activated shape memory polymers and numerical analysis

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a class of smart materials that exhibit remarkable shape memory effects, making them highly suitable for applications in aerospace, biomedical engineering, robotics, and textiles. Understanding their deformation mechanisms and developing accurate constitutive models to predict their thermomechanical behavior are crucial for advancing their practical applications. In this study, we propose a simplified three-dimensional viscoelastic constitutive model based on the Standard Linear Viscoelastic (SLV) framework to describe the shape memory behavior of SMPs under small strain conditions, which are typical in engineering applications such as torsion and bending. The model is implemented using a user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) in the finite element analysis software ABAQUS, enabling numerical simulations of SMPs' shape memory behavior under uniaxial tension, torsion, and bending deformations. The simulation results demonstrate excellent agreement with experimental data, validating the model's ability to accurately predict SMPs' mechanical behavior. The proposed model is characterized by its simplicity, ease of parameter acquisition, and straightforward numerical implementation, offering valuable theoretical guidance for the design and application of SMP-based smart structures.