Wide-Temperature-Range Large-Deformation Tensile Behavior and Constitutive Modeling of Polytetrafluoroethylene

This study investigates the tensile behavior of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube material across a wide range of temperatures, displacement rates, and sampling directions. Temperature has a dominant effect: flow stress decreases and ductility increase markedly as temperature rises, while displacement rate and sampling direction show only minor effects. A temperature-coupled three-part superposition quasi-static stress (TPS) model is developed, using Arrhenius-type relationships to describe how the model parameters evolve with temperature. This model outperforms the Johnson-Cook, Ogden, and Zhu-Wang-Tang (ZWT) models across the full strain range and the entire tested temperature range. Molecular dynamics simulations further show that rising temperature increases free volume and chain-segment mobility while reducing chain orientation, providing a molecular-scale explanation for the observed thermal softening.