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Polymers and polymer composites provide a large variety and customizability with regard to their properties. To make optimal use of the versatility of polymers, a thorough understanding of their physical and mechanical properties and reliable material models are required. To that end the effects of temperature, time, stress or fillers and reinforcements must be considered.
We use several state of the art testing methods including optical deformation measurements to characterize the material behavior and to obtain precise and accurate data for the definition and development of material models. Based on these data, we provide material models for the use with finite element software. We use available but also newly developed models, as the material models implemented in commercial finite element software can often not describe the complex material behavior of specific polymers. In the finite element simulations we then apply different modeling approaches to determine critical global and local loads in components to optimize material use and design with respect to their application.
We particularly consider anisotropy, viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, damage and failure in the material models. For the finite element simulations, we employ methods ranging from conventional stress analysis to computations based on fracture mechanics concepts to determine deformation, damage and lifetime of polymeric components.