For some viscoelastic polymers that are subjected to stress relaxation tests,
the stress decays with time according to \(\sigma(t)=\sigma(0) \exp
\left(-\frac{t}{\tau}\right)\) where \(\sigma(t)\) and \(\sigma(0)\) represent the
timedependent and initial (i.e., time \(=0\) ) stresses, respectively, and \(t\)
and \(\tau\) denote elapsed time and the relaxation time; \(\tau\) is a time
independent constant characteristic of the material. A specimen of some
viscoelastic polymer with the stress relaxation that obeys Equation 15.10 was
suddenly pulled in tension to a measured strain of \(0.5 ;\) the stress
necessary to maintain this constant strain was measured as a function of time.
Deter\(\operatorname{mine} E_{r}(10)\) for this material if the initial stress
level was 3.5 MPa \((500\) psi), which dropped to \(0.5 \mathrm{MPa}(70
\mathrm{psi})\) after \(30 \mathrm{s}\).