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Mechanical Behavior of Plastics >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus

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Description


3.91 Mechanical Properties of Polymers is one of MIT's principal graduate subjects in polymeric materials. It is a "core" subject in the MIT interdepartmental Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST), and one of the elective subjects in the doctoral Bio - and Polymer Program of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. 3.91 was developed originally by Prof. F. J. McGarry in the 1960's, and has been offered continually at MIT ever since. Prof. D. Roylance has co-taught the subject since the mid-1970's, and became the sole instructor with Prof. McGarry's retirement in June 2002.

As its name implies, 3.91 is aimed at presenting the concepts underlying the response of polymeric materials to applied loads. These will include both the molecular mechanisms involved and the mathematical description of the relevant continuum mechanics. It is dominantly an "engineering" subject, but with an atomistic flavor. The subject content will follow approximately that of the Ward text:

  • Polymer structure
  • Deformation of elastic solids
  • Rubber-like elasticity
  • Linear viscoelasticity
  • Composite materials and laminates
  • Yield
  • Fracture

The subject carries 3-0-9 credit, so approximately three hours of outside work should follow each lecture hour. These outside hours will include a thorough reading of various sections of the Ward text or Roylance modules as assigned in the Schedule, and often one or more engineering problems. The reading assigned for a given day should be complete before class, and the assigned problem should be turned in at the next class meeting. (Occasionally your personal schedule may force you to delay a day or two, but try to avoid this.) No penalty will be assessed for the occasional one-day-late submission. Grading will be based on the quality of the submitted problems, the vigor of your in-class discussion, and the three quizzes.

Student collaboration on homework is permitted and encouraged, but all work to be submitted should then be worked out and written up on your own. Copying from "bibles" or other such sources is cheating. Computer solutions are encouraged when appropriate; 'Maple® and MATLAB®' are excellent for many of the assigned problems.

There are no formal recitations, but you are encouraged to make frequent use of the Instructor's office hours for assistance or just informal discussion.



Textbooks


Amazon logo Ward, I. M., and J. Sweeney. An Introduction to the Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers. 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. ISBN: 9780471496267.

Amazon logo Roylance, David. Mechanics of Materials. New York, NY: John Wiley, 1995. ISBN: 9780471593997.



Schedule


Each assignment is due during the next class session.


LEC #TOPICSKEY DATES
1Introduction, overview of polymersHomework 1 out
2Chemical composition
3Structure
4Elastic responseProblem set 1.8 out
5StrainProblem set 8.4 out
6Stress
7Transformations of stress and strainProblem set 10.6 out
8Hookean elasticityProblem set 11.2 out
9Gaussian chain statistics
10Rubber elasticityProblem set 2.7 out
11Elastomer mechanicsProblem set 6.8-6.9 out
12Introduction to linear viscoelasticityProblem set 19.1-19.2 out
13Creep and stress relaxation
14Quiz 1
15Dynamic responseProblem set 19.4 out
16The Maxwell spring-dashpot model
17Standard linear solidProblem set 19.6-19.8 out
18Wiechert solid, Boltzman superpositionProblem set 19.11 out
19Effect of temperatureProblem set 19.17-19.18 out
20Effect of temperature (cont.)Problem set 19.19 out
21Multiaxial stressesProblem set 19.20 out
22Stress analysis: Superposition
23Stress analysis: Correspondence principleProblem set 19.21-19.22 out
24Composite materials, rule of mixturesProblem set 3.1-3.2 out
25Mechanics of compositesProblem set 3.3 out
26Quiz 2
27Composite laminates: Anisotropy and transformationsProblem set 15.1-15.2 out
28Laminates: Plate bendingProblem set 15.5 out
29Laminates: Temperature and viscoelastic effects
30YieldProblem set 4.8 out
31Yield: Multiaxial stresses
32Yield: Effect of hydrostatic stress, crazing
33Yield: Effect of rate and temperatureProblem set 20.10 out
34Fracture: The Zhurkov model
35Fracture: The Griffith model
36Fracture: Crack-tip stresses, stress intensity factor
37Quiz 3
38Fracture: Effect of specimen geometry
39Fracture: J-integral and viscoelasticity

 








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