Material Deformation
Time dependent material behavior involves viscoelastic relaxation where internal stresses dissipate after a constant strain is applied. This phenomenon occurs in polymers and adhesives that exhibit both viscous and elastic characteristics.
Time Dependency
Molecules inside the material rearrange themselves over time to reach a lower energy state. This movement causes the force required to maintain a fixed deformation to decrease. The rate of relaxation depends on the temperature and the molecular weight of the polymer chains.
At higher temperatures, the chains move more freely and the stress drops more quickly.
Stress Decay
Measurements of the relaxation modulus track how the stiffness of the material changes during the process. This data is used to predict the long term stability of bonded joints in electronic packages. A joint that relaxes too much might lose the tension required to maintain a reliable electrical connection.
Creep Behavior
Constant loading leads to a gradual increase in strain which is the inverse of the relaxation process. Both effects are governed by the same underlying molecular physics and are described by the same mathematical models. Long term reliability models incorporate these changes to predict the behavior of sensors under constant stress for many years.