A new model for an aging thermoviscoelastic material (Q1905534)

A new model is proposed for an aging viscoelastic material. The medium is treated as a collection of springs instantly joining the system or collapsing so that their total number is fixed at all times. A new constitutive equation is suggested for the case of a thermoviscoelastic solid. It is assumed that the rate of ``birth'' of new springs \(r\) in the medium is proportional to its temperature \(\theta\). Under this assumption, the destruction rate \(w\) and the dimensionless rate of birth \(v\) are unique solutions of a linear Volterra equation. The proposed model is claimed to be in better agreement with the real physical process of non-isothermal loading as indicated by experimental data.