Group contribution analysis applied to the Havriliak–Negami model for polyurethanes

Abstract

Group contribution analysis (GCA) has been applied to many of the physical properties of polymers in the past. In this paper, GCA has been applied for the first time to the frequency dependent complex modulus of polymeric materials, which may be described in terms of the Havrialiak–Negami (H–N) equation. This approach has been tested on a set of polyurethanes for which the H–N parameters have been uniquely determined. It has been shown that the dynamic mechanical behaviour of polymers may be described in terms of group additive relationships, at least for the 14 polyurethanes and nine structural groups which were studied here.