The wear of polymer-based materials is connected to their brittleness. We have previously formulated a quantitative definition of brittleness in terms of elongation at break and storage modulus for thermoplastic polymers. We provide a formula connecting brittleness to viscoelastic recovery (healing) after sliding wear. Our model fits a selection of ten thermoplastics representing several classe...

The introduction of biodegradable implant materials as well as minimally invasive surgical procedures in medicine has substantially improved health care within the past few decades. This report describes a group of degradable thermoplastic polymers that are able to change their shape after an increase in temperature. Their shape-memory capability enables bulky implants to be placed in the body ...