Experimental and molecular dynamics study on thermal‐mechanical properties of epoxy shape memory polymers

Abstract Experimental and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate epoxy shape memory polymers' thermal‐mechanical properties and shape memory characteristics, utilizing polyether amine and modified hexanediamine as curing agents following the material prerequisites for variable stiffness fixtures. Glass transition temperature and Young's modulus of epoxy shape memory polymers are characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis. The consistency of the glass transition temperature between the simulation model and the experimental findings verified the accuracy of the molecular dynamics simulation. The uniaxial tensile simulation revealed that non‐bond energy predominantly exerts its influence in stretch. After reaching the yield stress, the weight fraction of the curing agent affects the generation of internal pores, with the yield stress of systems exhibiting substantial pores being minor. Systems characterized by a higher weight fraction of curing agents are more prone to pore formulation. Simulation of shape memory properties demonstrates that the entropy resulting from differences in molecular weight impacts the simulated system's shape fixation ratio and shape recovery ratio.