Constitutive Modeling of a Thermoplastic Olefin Over a Broad Range of Strain Rates

A microstructually motivated, three-dimensional, large deformation, strain rate dependent constitutive model has been developed for a semi-crystalline, blended, thermoplastic olefin (TPO) (Wang, Y., 2002, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI). Various experiments have been conducted to characterize the TPO and to verify the modeling approach (Wang, Y., 2002, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI). The model includes a quantitative rate-dependent Young’s modulus, a nonlinear viscoelastic response between initial linear elastic response and yield due to inherent microstructural irregularity, rate and temperature dependent yield with two distinctive yield mechanisms for low and high strain rates, temperature-dependent strain hardening, plastic deformation of crystalline regions, and adiabatic heating. It has been shown to accurately capture the observed TPO stress-strain behavior including the rate-dependent initial linear elastic response; temperature, strain rate, and deformation state-dependent yield; temperature and deformation state-dependent strain hardening; and pronounced thermal softening effects at high (impact) strain rates. The model has also been examined for its ability to predict the response in plane strain compression based on material parameters chosen to capture the uniaxial compression response. The model is predictive of the initial strain rate dependent stiffness, yield, and strain hardening responses in plane strain. Such predictive capability demonstrates the versatility with which this model captures the three-dimensional anisotropic nature of TPO stress-strain behavior.