Patent ID: 8108156
Filing Date: 2012-01-31
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for estimating a total stress of a toughened structural adhesive polymer, the method comprising the steps of: receiving via an input device a strain, a strain rate, a temperature, or a combination thereof at which the total stress is to be estimated; accessing from a memory device computer instructions and causing the computer to perform: determining a value of a strain-hardening stress of the toughened structural adhesive polymer, wherein strain-hardening stress of the toughened structural adhesive polymer is assigned a value of zero if the temperature is no greater than about 23° C. and wherein the strain-hardening stress is determined using an equation: if the temperature is greater than about 23° C., wherein σ determining a value of a non-strain-hardening stress of the toughened structural adhesive polymer, wherein the value of the non-strain-hardening stress is dependent on the strain, the strain rate, and the temperature; and adding the value of the strain-hardening stress to the value of the non-strain-hardening stress to obtain an estimated total stress.