Thermomechanical effects associated with crystallization of rubber under stretch and during slow extension

A natural rubber sample which crystallizes after stretching normally shows stress relaxation associated with this crystallization and normally ends up at a stress lower than that of the fully amorphous rubber before crystallization. On the other hand, a natural rubber sample which crystallizes during stretching becomes more rigid as a result of the crystallization and the stress required to extend it to a given stretch increases substantially above the stress needed to extend the fully amorphous rubber to the same elongation. Even though the former effect has been modeled and studied by the likes of Flory (1947), the latter effect has not yet been properly modeled or studied. The difference between crystallization during or after stretching will be studied in this article based on a thermodynamic model developed by the author to capture the thermomechanical effects of crystallization in natural rubber. The two limit cases of very rapid and very slow extension to a given stretch are singled out for comparison of the equilibrium stress.