Table of Contents

Part 1 Dimensional instabilities due to volume relaxation: general outline of volume relaxation; volume-relaxation data for a number of polymers; consequences for optical and electrical properties; methods to reduce the volume-relaxation effects. Part 2 Dimensional instability due to the stresses acting during processing: linear viscoelastic theory; viscoelastic behaviour of amorphous polymers; the non-isothermal viscoelastic theory; the recovery of large frozen-in deformation at temperatures below Tg; theory of shrinkage stresses. Part 3 Residual thermal stresses due to rapid inhomogeneous cooling: the origin of cooling stresses; elementary method for calulating cooling stresses in amorphous polymers (generalized Aggarwala-Saibel theory); refinements of the elementary theory; test of the theory for chilled flat plates; calculations for some other geometries. Part 4 Molecular orientations due to processing; the definition of orientation; the distinction with (frozen-in) strains; discussion of the classical picture on anisotrophy effects in oriented solid polymers; experiments on samples with a large frozen-in tensile strain; experiemtns on samples with a large frozen-in simple shear; the thermal shearing effect; experiments on samples with a large frozen-in twist; thermal twisting; relation between deformation conditions and degree of frozen-in orientation; frozen-in entropic stresses.