Lecture 5:

Viscoelasticity
16.0 Release

ANSYS Mechanical
Advanced Nonlinear Materials
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Lecture Overview
This lecture will discuss the viscoelastic material model for used in modeling
such materials as glass (amorphous solid) and amorphous polymers.

In this Lecture, we will cover the following topics:

A. Background on Viscoelastic Theory
B. Prony Series Function

C. TRS Behavior
D.Shift Functions
E. Examples

F. Defining Material Properties

G.Analysis Settings for Viscoelasticity Models
H.Workshop
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A. Background on Viscoelastic Theory

For some amorphous polymers, there is a change in behavior with respect to
temperature.

Below the glass transition temperature, the material may behave like an elastic
solid.

Above the glass transition temperature, the material response is similar to a

rubbery solid.

At higher temperatures, the behavior is similar to a viscous liquid.

For the temperatures above the glass transition temperature, the response
is a combination of an elastic solid and viscous liquid (referred to above as a
rubbery solid). This behavior is characteristic of viscoelasticity.

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... Background on Viscoelastic Theory

There are two aspects common to viscoelasticity, which involve time- and
temperature-dependency:

Comprised of elastic and anelastic response for deviatoric and/or volumetric

strains.
The elastic portion is recoverable and is instantaneous
The viscous portion is non-recoverable and occurs over time

Possible temperature-dependency introduced via

Temperature-dependent relaxation constants
Thermorheologically simple (TRS) assumption
Or have no temperature-dependency at all

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... Background on Viscoelastic Theory

Viscoelasticity describes material response which
contains an elastic and viscous part

s
.
e

The elastic response is instantaneous

Viscous response occurs over time (anelastic)
The rate effect is such that there is limiting behavior
for fast and slow loading

As strain rate decreases, the bulk/shear moduli also

decreases

.
e

For high strain rates, the elastic response is the limiting

behavior
For low strain rates, the viscous response is the limiting
behavior

.
e0
e

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... Background on Viscoelastic Theory

Creep

Under constant applied stress, strain increases

monotonically.

Cases of linear and exponential creep shown on

right

e
e0

Recovery
t

If the constant applied load is removed, a portion

of the viscoelastic strains will recover (dotted line).

Stress Relaxation

Under constant applied strain, stress decreases

asymptotically.

s0
s
t

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... Background on Viscoelastic Theory

In viscoelasticity, the constitutive relation is dependent on the stress-strain
history, so a hereditary integral is used:
t

t 2 G t t ' e dt ' I K t t ' evol dt '

0

As seen above, the deviatoric and volumetric terms are separated.

The relaxation functions G(t) and K(t) are described by Prony series (discussed next)
Accounting for temperature effects can be done by either temperature-dependent
Prony constants for G(t) and K(t) or by assuming thermorheologically simple
behavior (discussed later)

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... Background on Viscoelastic Theory

Viscoelasticity models

Maxwell model consists a spring and a viscous

dashpot (damper) in series

Kelvin (Voigt) model consists a spring and a
dashpot in parallel
Standard linear solid model combines two springs
and a dashpot

In WB, we use a Prony Series representation

(Generalized Maxwell Model)
The number of dashpots is equal to the number of
terms in the Prony series representing the stress
response.

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B. Prony Series
Prony Series: Shear modulus G(t) and bulk modulus K(t) are functions of time.

Where tiG is the relaxation time for each Prony component Gi.
G is the long-term modulus (t=).

G t G Gi e

N values of aiG and tiG are input for shear (and/or bulk)
moduli.
Go is the instantaneous modulus (t=0) whereas G is the
long-term modulus (t=).

t iG

i 1

Instead of inputting values as shown in the first equation on a i

right, we introduce relative moduli aiG=Gi/Go.

Gi
Go

G N G t tG
G t G0 a a i e i
i 1

K M K t tK
K t K 0 a a i e i
i 1

As with other material behavior, volumetric and deviatoric terms are separated. Similar
behavior can be defined for bulk modulus with a separate set of M values of relative
moduli aiK and relaxation times tiK.

Relative moduli ai and relaxation times ti can be input as temperature-dependent

constants

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... Prony Series

As shown from the equations on the previous slide, the relative shear
(and/or bulk) modulus decay exponentially. At t=ti, the relative
modulus will be at 37% of its value.
The sum of ai should be less than or equal to 1. If the sum of ai is equal
to 1, that means that G(t=)=0.

Go

Go

G (50%Go)

G (20%Go)

1 pair: a1=0.5 and t1=20

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2 pair: a1=0.5, t1=20 and a1=0.3, t1=70.

C. TRS Behavior
Thermorheologically Simple Behavior

As mentioned earlier, viscoelastic materials are often time- and temperaturedependent. Both dependencies may need to be accounted for.

Thermorheologically simple (TRS) behavior means that time & temperature

are the same phenomenon. This means that the viscoelastic response vs.
logarithmic time function translates with change in temperature.

Another way of stating the above

is that the material response to a
load at a high temperature over a
short duration is the same as the
response at a lower temperature
over a longer duration.

G
G(0)
T0 < T1 < T2
T2

T1
T0

G()

ln(t)
Shifting of Relaxation Modulus with
Change in Temperature
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... TRS Behavior

Thermorheologically Simple Behavior (continued)

The TRS assumption allows for a relationship with time and temperature
dependency. This adequately describes many amorphous polymers.

The short-term G(t=0) and long-term G(t=) moduli will remain the same,
regardless of the temperature (i.e., the upper and lower limits on the
previous graph will remain the same for any translational shift).
This allows for the definition of viscoelastic behavior at one temperature
yet captures the response at other temperatures.
Using the concepts of reduced time and the shift function (discussed
next), the viscoelastic response is shifted to account for behavior at
another temperature.

Depending on the material, different shift functions are used.

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D. Shift Functions
Mathematically, the aforementioned TRS behavior is
expressed by combining the effect of time and
temperature into a variable called reduced time x
(a.k.a. pseudo time).

The shift function, A(T), describes the shifting of the

response curve (i.e., the relationship between time and
temperature) based on a reference temperature Tr .

There are two predefined shift functions which can be

used in ANSYS, William-Landel-Ferry (WLF) and ToolNarayanaswamy (TN) shift functions. A user-defined
shift function may also be specified. All are specified via
TB,SHIFT with Tr and C1 (and C2) as supplied constants. Tr
is in absolute temperature units

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t AT t ' dt '
t

d
'

A
T
t
dt '

ATN T t ' e

1 1
C1
Tr T

AWLF T t ' 10

C1 T Tr

r
2

... Shift Functions

Numerical integration is performed with respect to
time.

G N G tG
G G0 a a i e i
Hence, the Prony representation is rewritten with
i 1

pseudo time , which includes the effect of time and

d
temperature.
AT , Tr
'
dt
It is assumed that temperature changes DT vary linearly
G
t
in any increment of time Dt. (i.e., T is a linear function
i Tr
AT , Tr
G
of t in a substep)
t i T

This means that the relaxation times of all Prony

components must also obey the relationship involving
the shift function A(T). Hence, temperature changes
change the relaxation times according to A(T).

Using the concept of reduced time, isothermal equations

can now be used to describe non-isothermal processes.

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... Shift Functions

Below is an example of how temperature affects the response of the system
(change in shear modulus plotted). As temperature increases, one can see
that the relaxation times also decrease. (The curve would look as if it shifted
to the left if the response were plotted on ln(t) instead of t.)

Go

T
G (20%Go)

Example of TRS Behavior (T=20, 50, 100)

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... Shift Functions

Some comments on the WLF and TN shift functions:

Although the constants C1 (and C2) are usually evaluated at the glass
transition temperature Tg, the user is not restricted to use this. The
constants C1 and C2 may be evaluated at any reference temperature Tr.

The TN shift function, as implemented is essentially the Arrhenius equation.

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... Shift Functions

The TN shift function is usually used in the glass industry. Because of
volumetric growth of glass encountered near its glassy state, the concept of
fictive temperature is used instead of reduced time.

This extension of the Tool-Narayanaswamy shift function to include a fictive

temperature is defined as follows:

ATN T t
Where:

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'

1 X 1 X
C1
Tr T TF

TF fictive temperature
X 0 1 material parameter

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... Shift Functions

The fictive temperature is given by:

t fiT fi TDt(TF )
o

T fi

Where:

t fi Dt(TF )
o

Dt time increment

t fi temperature relaxation times

The superscript o represents values from the previous time step.

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... Shift Functions

The fictive temperature model also modifies the volumetric thermal strain
model and gives the incremental thermal strain as:

De T a g (T )DT al TF a g TF DTF
where the glass and liquid coefficients of thermal expansion are given by:

a g (T ) a g o a g1T a g 2T 2 a g 3T 3 a g 4T 4
al (T ) al o al1T al 2T 2 al 3T 3 al 4T 4
The total thermal strain is given by the sum over time of the incremental
thermal strains:
T
T

De
t

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... Shift Functions

Various materials may exhibit viscoelastic response

Polymers
Usually described by WLF shift function
Elastomers (rubber industry)
Underfill, mold compound (electronics packaging)

Glass
Described by TN shift function

Metals
Usually, metal anelastic response is negligible and not considered

Other
Wood, concrete

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E. Example: Bushing

Animation of hyperelasticity with

viscoelasticity. No temperaturedependency specified
(isothermal). True stress vs.
strain shown in XY plot on top.
Note hysteresis during unloading.

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... Example: Pinched Cylinder

Animation of hyperelasticity
and viscoelasticity. No
temperature-dependency
specified (isothermal).
Reaction force from rigid
target surface shows
relaxation

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F. Defining Viscoelastic Material Data

WB Engineering Data allows for direct specification of viscoelastic material
parameters.

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Defining Viscoelastic Material Data

Procedure for defining material data is similar to other material options
Insert model option from Tool Box
Highlight the Tabular data Icon and insert Prony Series values in Table to the far
right

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Defining Viscoelastic Material Data

After defining Prony constants, any one of three shift function options can be then
be added as applicable

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Defining Viscoelastic Material Data

Viscoelastic Test Data can be read into Engineering Data and the corresponding
Prony material properties calculated via Curve Fitting Tool.

Input relaxation test data

1
2
Specify Prony Series
Click to edit Master text styles

3
Execute Curve fit
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Defining Viscoelastic Material Data

To be fully defined, viscoelastic material model must also include either an Isotropic
linear elastic material (EX & NUXY) or nonlinear hyperelastic material.
Elastic input values can be temperature-dependent

Shear and volumetric response can be input by specifying relative moduli and
relaxation times.
Note that shear and volumetric response do not have to have same number
of Prony constants

User does not have to input both shear and volumetric response. Often
volumetric relaxation is negligible.
Up to 100 temperature-dependent sets of 100 pairs of constants can be
input for deviatoric and volumetric response.

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G. Analysis Settings for Viscoelasticity

Viscoelasticity is similar to creep, but part of
the deformation is removed when the loading
is taken off.

CUTCONTROL will not take viscoelastic strains

into consideration, so user must verify that time
step is small enough in transition region. This
means that temperature changes should be kept
small over a given substep.

Large Deflection = ON is manditory if

combined with hyperelasticity

For large models with long run times and

potential convergence trouble, consider
setting up a Restart Control strategy in the
event that adjustment to time step range or
convergence criteria is necessary
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References for Further Reading

Some general references on viscoelasticity:
1. Viscoelasticy, Wilhelm Flugge, Blaisdell Publishing, 1967.

2. Creep and Relaxation of Nonlinear Viscoelastic Materials, William N. Findley, James

S. Lai and Kasif Onaran, Dover, originally published in 1976.
3. Glass Science and Technology, Vol 3 Viscosity and Relaxation, Edited by D.R.Uhlmann
and N.J.Kreidl, Academic Press, 1986.

4. Relaxation in Glass and Composites, George W. Scherer, John Wiley & Sons, 1986.
5. The Phenomenological Theory of Linear Viscoelastic Behavior, Nicholas W. Tschoegl,
Springer-Verlag, about 1992.
6. Viscoelastic Solids, Roderic S. Lake, CRC Press, 1999.
7. ANSYS Theory Manual, Chapter 4.9Viscoelasticity

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H. Workshop Exercise
Please refer to your Workshop Supplement:
Workshop 5A: Viscoelasticity

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