Mechanical Behavior and Constitutive Model Characterization of Optically Clear Adhesive in Flexible Devices

Abstract

Optically clear adhesive (OCA) has been widely used in flexible devices, where wavy stripes that cause troublesome long-term reliability problems often occur. The complex mechanical behavior of OCA should be studied, as it is related to the aforementioned problems. Therefore, it is necessary to establish reasonable mechanical constitutive models for deformation and stress control. In this work, hyperelastic and viscoelastic mechanical tests were carried out systematically and relative constitutive models of OCA material were established. We found that temperature has a great influence on OCA’s mechanical properties. The stress and modulus both decreased rapidly as the temperature increased. In the static viscoelasticity test, the initial stress at 85 °C was only 12.6 kPa, 57.4% lower than the initial stress at 30 °C. However, in the dynamic test, the storage modulus monotonically decreased from 1666.3 MPa to 0.6628 MPa as the temperature rose, and the decline rate reached the maximum near the glass transition temperature (Tg = 0 °C). The test data and constitutive models can be used as design references in the manufacturing process, as well as for product reliability evaluation.