Sequential evaluation of continuous deformation field of semi-crystalline polymers during tensile deformation accompanied by neck propagation

The localized deformation field of high density polyethylene and polypropylene during a tensile test accompanied by neck propagation was quantitatively evaluated based on the network digital image correlation method. In the proposed method, the continuity of the deformation field around a point of interest was introduced for accurate evaluation of the displacement. The accuracy of the proposed method was verified through test images. Using the proposed method, the development of a non-uniform displacement field during tensile tests was evaluated from sequential digital images. The local strain rate was almost uniform until the nominal stress reached its maximum value. After the maximum stress was reached, non-uniform deformation developed at a part of the gauge region of the specimen. A decrease in nominal stress induced a reduction of the local strain rate at regions other than the necked zone. In this study, the cross section average local true stress, strain, and strain rate can be evaluated from the local displacement field. Thus, the relationship between these quantities was evaluated during the tensile tests. Using the proposed method, the local response under wide ranges of strain and strain rate can be evaluated from a few test conditions of tensile strain rate and a small range of tensile strain. Finally, the relationships between gradients of stress, strain, and strain rate under uniaxial tension are discussed. These non-local quantities deviated from those predicted by constitutive equations when the domain size used to evaluate the local quantities was large.