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Constitutive modelling of the large inelastic deformation behaviour of rubber-toughened poly(methyl methacrylate): effects of strain rate, temperature and rubber-phase volume fraction

A combined approach including experimental investigation and constitutive modelling was followed in this work to study the stress–strain behaviour of rubber-toughened glassy polymers. The large inelastic deformation response of rubber-toughened poly(methyl methacrylate) (RT-PMMA) was experimentally studied under uniaxial compression tests at different strain rates and temperatures. The studied composite system consists of spherical core–shell (PMMA hard shell and soft rubber core) particles embedded in a PMMA matrix. The influence of particle concentration (ranging from 0% to 45%) on the macroscopic behaviour was also investigated from small to large strain. The physically based hyperelastic–viscoplastic constitutive model of Boyce–Socrate–Llana was extended to describe the stress–strain behaviour of rubber-toughened glassy polymers. The model accounts for the effective contribution of the two polymeric phases to the overall composite macroscopic behaviour, by including in the original model the hyperelastic deformation of rubber particles. The capabilities of the model to describe the rate-dependent yield and post-yield behaviour of PMMA over a wide range of temperatures and strain rates are pointed out. The model is able to successfully capture the significant features of the stress–strain behaviour including the initial linear elasticity, the gradual rollover to yield, the strain softening after yield (when it exists) followed by the strain hardening. Its predictive capabilities are further tested by comparison with compression data on RT-PMMA for different rubber contents.