Phenomenological modelling of polymer crystallization using the notion of multiple natural configurations (Q1971107)

Summary: We present a model to capture the effects during solidification and crystallization in polymers within a purely mechanical setting, using the framework of multiple natural configurations that was introduced recently to study a variety of nonlinear dissipative responses of materials undergoing phase transitions. Using this framework we model the transition from a fluid-like behaviour to a solid-like behaviour. We also present a way of incorporating the formation of an anisotropic crystalline phase in the melt. The anisotropy of the crystalline phase, and consequently that of the final solid, depends on the deformation in the melt at the instant of crystallization, a fact that has been known for a long time and has been exploited in polymer processing. The proposed model is tested by solving three homogeneous deformations.