Thermo-viscoelastic material behaviour: Theoretical and numerical aspects

Many polymers used for practical purposes show viscoelastic material behaviour which is strongly influenced by temperature changes. The material model presented in this paper consists of two parts: one is responsible for the viscous or rate-dependent material behaviour, whereas the second models the rate-independent effects. In both parts full coupling between mechanical and thermal fields is considered. Interesting phenomena caused by the thermomechanical coupling are modeled in a finite element example.