Creep Predicting in Polymeric Materials

A structural analysis program involving the finite element method was developed and tested for predicting time-dependent strains in polymeric materials. A generalized Maxwell model was used to provide the material constitutive equation. At each time interval, the equilibrium equations were solved by using the stress integration method. Three element types were implemented: truss, beam and plane stress elements. The numerical results obtained were compared with experimental ones given in the literature, showing a good performance of the proposed method.