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Mechanical Behavior of Caulks and Sealants

Published

Author(s)

Donald L. Hunston, Christopher C. White

Abstract

ulks and Sealants are important examples of consumer products where performance depends critically on rheological properties. This work describes the development of a testing and modeling procedure to characterize the basic mechanical properties of such materials and demonstrates the procedure on five different samples. All of the materials tested exhibit the Mullins effect, and stress-strain tests were used to characterize the behavior. The non-linear viscoelastic properties were then examined with stress-relaxation experiments. An empirical equation was formulated to describe all five samples over a wide range of strains and time scales. An important procedure can be used to follow changes that occur in materials when it is exposedto environmental conditions.
Citation
Polymer Preprints

Keywords

construction, elastomers, housing, mechanical properties, Mullins effect, non-linear behavior, sealants, viscoelasticity

Citation

Hunston, D. and White, C. (2003), Mechanical Behavior of Caulks and Sealants, Polymer Preprints (Accessed October 12, 2025)

Issues

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Created January 15, 2003, Updated June 2, 2021
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