Radial Basis Function Neural Network-Based Modeling of the Dynamic Thermo-Mechanical Response and Damping Behavior of Thermoplastic Elastomer Systems.

Ivan Kopal,Marta Harničárová,Jan Valíček,Ondrej Lukáč,Jan Krmela

doi:10.3390/polym11061074

Abstract

The presented work deals with the creation of a new radial basis function artificial neural network-based model of dynamic thermo-mechanical response and damping behavior of thermoplastic elastomers in the whole temperature interval of their entire lifetime and a wide frequency range of dynamic mechanical loading. The created model is based on experimental results of dynamic mechanical analysis of the widely used thermoplastic polyurethane, which is one of the typical representatives of thermoplastic elastomers. Verification and testing of the well-trained radial basis function neural network for temperature and frequency dependence of dynamic storage modulus, loss modulus, as well as loss tangent prediction showed excellent correspondence between experimental and modeled data, including all relaxation events observed in the polymeric material under study throughout the monitored temperature and frequency interval. The radial basis function artificial neural network has been confirmed to be an exceptionally high-performance artificial intelligence tool of soft computing for the effective predicting of short-term viscoelastic behavior of thermoplastic elastomer systems based on experimental results of dynamic mechanical analysis.

Highlights

IntroductionThermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are high molecular weight polymeric materials that combine the mechanical properties of vulcanized elastomers (rubbers) with excellent processability and recyclability of thermoplastics [1]
Results of the realized dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests in the form of temperature dependence of average storage modulus E0 (T, f ), loss modulus E”(T, f ) and loss tangent tanδ(T, f ) in a temperature range T from 146 K
The temperature Tγ corresponds to the glass transition of crystalline soft segments from stiff glassy stage to compliant rubbery stage; the temperature Tα is associated with the glass transition of crystalline hard segments due to the breakdown of hydrogen-bonded interactions of van der Waal’s forces between the rigid and flexible segments of Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), while at the temperature Tβ, the short-range order translation, and reorientation motions within both the soft-phase and hard-phase crystallites, occur [15]

Summary

Introduction

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are high molecular weight polymeric materials that combine the mechanical properties of vulcanized elastomers (rubbers) with excellent processability and recyclability of thermoplastics [1]. Thermoplastics are composed of long linear macromolecular chains that are bound to each other by weak van der Waals forces. These intermolecular interactions significantly weaken with increasing temperature. Thermoplastics belong to a well thermoformable and easy to recycle polymers [2]. On the other hand, vulcanized elastomers are characterized by strong covalent bonds forming nodes of a spatial polymer network that are so strong that they cannot be disrupted without irreversibly degrading

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Results

Conclusion