Rethinking and researching the physical meaning of the standard linear solid model in viscoelasticity

Despite the common use of the standard linear solid model (SLSM) in viscoelasticity, the physical significance as well as the difference between the Maxwell and Kelvin forms of SLSM are still not clear. This paper demonstrates that each parameter of those two models has its specific physical meaning, and introduces the relationships allowing the transformations between those parameters. Regardless of their physical significance, those two models are equivalent in terms of their mathematical properties. Hence, no matter which model is chosen, consistent analysis results can always be obtained as long as the physical meaning of each parameter is accurately interpreted.