The effect of temperature on the viscoelastic response of rubbery   polymers at finite strains
  Constitutive equations are derived for the viscoelastic response of rubbery polymers at finite strains. A polymer is thought of as a network of long chains connected to temporary junctions. At a random time, a chain detaches from a junction, which is treated at transition from its active state to the dangling state. A dangling chain randomly captures a new junction in the vicinity of its free end and returns to its active state. Breakage and reformation of long chains are modeled as thermo-mechanically activated processes. Stress-strain relations for a rubbery polymer are developed using the laws of thermodynamics. Adjustable parameters in the model are found by fitting observations in uniaxial tensile tests for a carbon black filled rubber at various temperatures. Fair agreement is demonstrated between experimental data and results of numerical simulation. 
Aleksey D. Drozdov (Institute for Industrial Mathematics, Beersheba)   and Al Dorfmann (Institute of Structural Engineering,...