Relaxation Phenomena in Polymers
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Analysis and Characterization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 3925
Special Issue Editors
Interests: polymers; glass transition; viscoelasticity; physical aging; constitutive equation; relaxation; thin films
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: viscoelasticity; polymer processing; fatigue; nanocomposites; structural modeling; residual stresses; damage mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue covers the relevant aspects of relaxation phenomena in polymers. The glassy state, viscoelasticity, and fracture mechanics are time-dependent phenomena that characterize the fundamental knowledge of polymers. From high-performance fiber composites to nanomaterials, the widespread use of polymers subtends the relaxation phenomena that determine their long-term properties. Among the others, the following arguments of physical and engineering interest are still open to debate in the literature:
- The polymers’ time dependence induced by strain changes and temperature variations is ordinarily reported, but their coupling lacks a theoretical justification.
- Structural relaxation effects during manufacturing operations generate the residual stresses in thermoplastic polymers. Their determination requires thermo-viscoelasticity formulations coupled with three-dimensional mechanics.
- The residual stresses that arise during the manufacturing process, which involves chemical reactions, are the source of early flaw formation that triggers the development of other high-performance carbon/epoxy laminate damage mechanisms, influencing their lifetime. Calculating residual stresses in such materials requires coupling the thermosetting resin’s cure kinetics and the structural relaxation phenomena on a sound theoretical basis, which is still lacking.
- Determining the properties of glassy polymers confined at the nanometric length scale, where one sample dimension is much lower than the statistical macromolecular dimension, is challenging and represents an open literature dilemma.
Dr. Luigi Grassia
Prof. Dr. Alberto D’Amore
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- viscoelasticity
- polymer processing
- nanocomposites
- structural relaxation
- residual stresses
- time-dependent mechanics
- fatigue
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
