Comparison of viscoelastic models in simulating the transient response of a slewing polymer arm

In this paper, we analyze the transient behavior of a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) slewing beam. Experimental data shows that the Young’s modulus of PMMA varies considerably between 0 and 50 Hz. For accurate simulation, this variation must be modeled. Traditional stress-strain models such as the Voigt-Kelvin and the standard linear solid models are examined and shown to have only limited abilities. Models involving fractional derivatives, which are derivatives of an order between 0 and 1, give better results. An integration algorithm based on the Newmark family is described to compute the dynamic equations with a fractional derivative.