Abstract
The fracture toughness and failure mechanisms of epoxy resin composites filled with silica particulates have been investigated in the temperature range -50°C to 80°C and at two loading rates. There are significant effects of temperature and loading rate on impact fracture toughness, which shows a peak at ambient temperature and decreases as temperature is reduced or raised. Fracture toughness under static loading is slightly lower than that of impact loading with similar dependence on temperature. Failure mechanisms are characterized based on SEM examination, which is correlated with the measured fracture toughness, the damage zone size developed at the advancing crack tip, and the residual stresses arising from differential thermal contraction between matrix and particles upon cooling from the cure temperature.
| Original language | British English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3446-3455 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Polymer |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 16 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1993 |
Keywords
- failure mechanisms
- fracture toughness
- loading rate
- particulate composites
- temperature