Abstract
In Part I (loc. cit.) the behavior of a plastic material in the parallel-plate (Williams) plastimeter was studied, and an expression was deduced showing how the rate of decrease in thickness of the sample during compression depends on the volume of the sample, its plastic properties, the compressive load, and the thickness itself. Subsequently, observations were published which showed that the basic principle adopted in this study was incorrect in certain particulars. Peek (loc. cit.), using these observations as a basis, deduced a new expression for the rate of decrease in thickness, though this is too complex for convenient practical use, except in an approximate simplified form. It has now been shown that the expression deduced in Part I, in spite of the inaccurate basis used, is sufficiently near to the truth to render substantially correct the conclusions there stated concerning the plastic properties of unvulcanized rubber stocks. By adopting the more accurate basis used by Peek, moreover, expressions for the rate of decrease in thickness can be deduced for materials showing more complex types of plastic flow than that considered in Part I or by Peek; this had proved impossible by the method previously used. The expression obtained by Peek for the simple type of plastic flow, as well as those now deduced for the more complex types, can be expressed in a form that furnishes a simple and rapid method of examining and analyzing experimental results. As a result of the work described in this paper, it is thus possible to determine, from results obtained with the parallel-plate plastimeter, whether or not a material such as unvulcanized rubber stock exhibits any of the types of plastic flow represented in the general form by Equation 1, and, if so, to find the values of the plastic constants of the material. The procedure is similar to that described in Part I, and consists simply in comparing, by superposition, a set of standard curves drawn on transparent paper with the curve plotted from experimental data. This further development of the method of studying plastic properties by means of the parallel-plate plastimeter should greatly increase its utility as an instrument of research. It has not yet been possible to apply the new method to a systematic study of rubber stocks, but from an examination of existing data it appears that these stocks, tested at 90° C., agree approximately with various forms of the generalized plastic flow equation already referred to.
Plasticity Autowave Characteristics of Metals and the Periodic Table of Elements
