Interaction between physical aging, deformation, and segmental mobility in poly(methyl methacrylate) glasses.

Optical photobleaching experiments were used to investigate the interaction between physical aging, segmental mobility, and mechanical properties in polymer glasses. Mechanical creep experiments were performed on lightly cross-linked poly(methyl methacrylate) glasses with systematically varying aging histories. By directly measuring the molecular mobility of polymer glasses under deformation, we observe that stresses in the preflow regime and flow regime have qualitatively different influences on the aging process. In the preflow regime, the effects of aging and stress on mobility act as two independent processes; stress causes an increase in segmental mobility but does not erase the influence of previous aging. In contrast, as a sample enters the flow regime, plastic deformation takes the glass into a high mobility state that is independent of any predeformation aging history.