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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films

Published on: January 26, 2016

Deformation-induced accelerated dynamics in polymer glasses.

Mya Warren¹, Jörg Rottler

¹Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. mya@ctbp.ucsd.edu

The Journal of Chemical Physics

|November 2, 2010

Summary

Deformation rejuvenates aging polymer glasses by erasing history dependence and narrowing relaxation times. This molecular dynamics study reveals how polymer dynamics change under stress, offering insights into material aging and recovery.

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Area of Science:

Polymer Physics
Materials Science
Computational Chemistry

Background:

Aging polymer glasses exhibit complex segmental dynamics.
Deformation is known to influence these dynamics, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood.
Understanding rejuvenation is key to predicting material lifespan and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of deformation on segmental dynamics in aging polymer glasses using molecular dynamics simulations.
To analyze the distribution of relaxation times and displacements under various deformation protocols.
To elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind mechanical rejuvenation in polymer glasses.

Main Methods:

Utilizing molecular dynamics simulations to model polymer glass behavior.
Decomposing individual particle trajectories into discontinuous hops.
Analyzing the full distribution of relaxation times and displacements under step stress, step strain, and constant strain rate deformation.

Main Results:

Deformation significantly accelerates polymer dynamics, by orders of magnitude.
Mechanical rejuvenation is observed, characterized by the erasure of history dependence and a narrowing of the relaxation time distribution.
Relaxation time distributions are protocol-specific but can be described by a universal acceleration factor dependent on strain.

Conclusions:

Aging in polymer glasses results from long tails in the relaxation time distribution.
Mechanical rejuvenation is a consequence of the narrowing of this distribution during yield.
The observed universal acceleration factor provides a simplified model for understanding deformation effects across different protocols.