Correlation of Cooperatively Localized Rearrangement on the ＂Fluidized Domain＂ of Polymers to Their Nonexponentially Viscoelastic Behaviors at Double Aging Processes （I）： A Set of Reduced Universal Equations on the Stress Relaxation Modulus and Creep Comp

Based on the structure of glass （or liquid） polymers consisting of α-domain, β-co-domain, and entanglement constituent chain networks, and the nonexponentially viscoelastic behavior, a “heterophase fluctuation” model was proposed. It was found that the dynamics of cooperative rearrangement on the “fluidized domain” has a great shear rate, domain size, and temperature dependences. When the shear rate, domain size, and temperature dependences were taken account into the cooperatively localized rearrangement on the fluidized domain by the degradation of primary α-domain and the reformation of secondary β-co-domain constituent chains. A new dynamic theory of cooperatively localized rearrangement on the fluidized domain constituent chains with different size and different network chain length during physical and mechanical aging was established. The total viscoelastic free en-ergy of deformation resulting from the change in conformations of α-domain, β-co-domain, crytallite, crosslinked, and trapped entanglement constituent chains during aging processes was calculated by the combining method of kinetics and statistical mechanics. The constitu- tive equations and reduced stress relaxation modulus and creep compliances for three types of polymers were also derived. Finally, two reduced universal equations on creep compliance and stress relaxation modulus with a non-linear and two nonexponential parameters α and β were theoretically derived from the dynamic theory and a statistically extended mode coupling theory for double aging effects of polymers was developed. Results show that the two reduced universal equations have the same form as Kohlraush-Williams-Watts （K-W-W） stretched exponential function. The nonlinearity and the nonexponentiality are, respectively, originated from the memory effects of nonthermal and thermal history. The correlation of nonlinearity, α and β to the aging time, aging temperature, and the mesomorphic structure of fluidized domains was also established.

Uniqueness of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation behaviors for soft clays

This work focuses on the uniqueness of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation behaviors for soft clays under one-dimensional condition. An elasto-viscoplastic model is briefly introduced based on the rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure. By comparing the rate-dependency formulation with the creep based formulation, the relationship between rate-dependency and creep behaviors is firstly described. The rate-dependency based formulation is then extended to derive an analytical solution for the stress relaxation behavior with defining a stress relaxation coefficient. Based on this, the relationship between the rate-dependency coefficient and the stress relaxation coefficient is derived. Therefore, the uniqueness between behaviors of rate-dependency, creep and stress relaxation with their key parameters is obtained. The uniqueness is finally validated by comparing the simulated rate-dependency of preconsolidation pressure, the estimated values of secondary compression coefficient and simulations of stress relaxation tests with test results on both reconstituted Illite and Berthierville clay.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protect injured optic nerve:viscoelasticity characterization

The optic nerve is a viscoelastic solid-like biomaterial.Its normal stress relaxation and creep properties enable the nerve to resist constant strain and protect it from injury.We hypothesized that stress relaxation and creep properties of the optic nerve change after injury.Moreover,human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells may restore these changes to normal.To validate this hypothesis,a rabbit model of optic nerve injury was established using a clamp approach.At 7 days after injury,the vitreous body received a one-time injection of 50 μg human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or 1 × 106 human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells.At 30 days after injury,stress relaxation and creep properties of the optic nerve that received treatment had recovered greatly,with pathological changes in the injured optic nerve also noticeably improved.These results suggest that human brain-derived neurotrophic factor or umbilical cord blood-derived stem cell intervention promotes viscoelasticity recovery of injured optic nerves,and thereby contributes to nerve recovery.

Correlation of Cooperatively Localized Rearrangement on the ＂Fluidized Domain＂ of Polymers to Their Nonexponentially Viscoelastic Behavior and Lifetime at Double Aging Processes II： Estimation of Long-term Mechanical Behavior and Lifetime of Polymeric Materials from Short-time Creep and Stress Relaxation Tests

Three kinds of polymeric materials are taken as example for the verification of linear ex-trapolation method from unified master lines with reduced universal equations on creep and stress relaxation tests. The theoretical values of long-term mechanical behavior and lifetime for a cured epoxide, polypropylene, poly（methyl-methacrylate）, and SBR rubber are directly evaluated with the universal equations on reduced creep compliance and reduced stress relax-ation modulus and are compared with their predicted values by the linear extrapolation from the unified master lines of creep and stress relaxation. The results show that the theoretical values of dimensional stability, bearing ability and lifetime are in an excellent agreement with the predicted values, it shows that the linear extrapolation method is more simple and reliable. The dependences of long-term mechanical behaviors and lifetime on the different aging times are discussed.