Shearing of particles during crack growth in polymer blends
article
Microstructural investigations below the fracture surface have revealed that the rubber particles in a number of polymer-rubber blends were deformed into remarkable S-like shapes. These shapes seem to have been largely ignored in previous microstructural studies of blends, but in fact cannot be explained from the known deformation states around a crack. We hypothesize in this paper that these shape changes develop as a consequence of macroscopic shearing of the blend as the crack front sweeps through the material. Large strain, finite element models for simple shearing of a blend are reported which demonstrate the evolution of round particles into S-shape ones for a range of material parameters, and thus support our hypothesis. The 'microscopic' localized deformation processes are identified, and the implications for the toughening mechanism in these blends is discussed.
Topics
TNO Identifier
235175
ISSN
00323861
Source
Polymer, 40(21), pp. 5761-5771.
Publisher
Elsevier Science Ltd
Place of publication
Exeter, United Kingdom
Pages
5761-5771
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