Dr. Sean Teller will offer an online course on Testing and Modeling of Polymers for Solid Mechanics Simulations on four consecutive Tuesdays, starting January 21, 2025. The course is offered through NAFEMS (the International Association for the Engineering Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Community), and will address the advanced and accurate modeling of thermoplastics, elastomers, TPEs, composites, and foams.
Modern solid mechanics finite element (FE) codes have built-in, advanced material models that can capture the complex behavior of polymers, including rate-dependent yield, plasticity, creep, stress-relaxation, and anisotropy. Designing your part without taking these behaviors into account can lead to extra iterations in the design cycle, field failures, or overdesign, costing additional money to manufacture.
Using advanced, modern test methods allows simulation and test engineers to capture these complex material effects, but measuring the mechanical behavior is the first step. Using your data to select and calibrate a material model will enable engineers to predict potential failures earlier in the design process.
In this four-session, online course, you’ll learn how to design a test plan, capture the test plan, and then calibrate your material model. You’ll then see how these models enable more accurate FE simulations.
We’ll cover the behavior of all polymers, including elastomers, TPEs/TPVs/TPUs (thermoplastic elastomers/thermoplastic vulcanizates/thermoplastic polyurethanes), thermoplastics and thermosets, fluoropolymers, adhesives, and composites. We’ll discuss hyperelastic material models, linear and nonlinear viscoelastic models, and nonlinear viscoplastic material models, including when to use each one.