Sc. Tjong et al., Work of fracture of polystyrene/high density polyethylene blends compatibilized by triblock copolymer, J APPL POLY, 77(9), 2000, pp. 2074-2081
The fracture toughening behavior of polystyrene/high density polyethylene b
lends compatibilized by 10 wt % of a styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene trib
lock copolymer (SEBS) was assessed using single-edge notched tension (SENT)
and double-edge notched tension (DENT) specimens of various gauge lengths
over a wide range of tensile rates. The fracture of DENT and SENT specimens
was completely ductile under the plane-stress condition. A linear relation
ship was observed between the specific total work of fracture and the ligam
ent length (L) for a given L range. The results showed that the essential w
ork (w(e)) was independent of the tensile rate (R) range of 1-30 mm/min, an
d it then decreased considerably when R was increased to 50 mm/min and abov
e. However, the nonessential work exhibited a rate independent trend behavi
or. In addition, w(e) and the specific nonessential work of fracture (beta
w(P)) were basically independent of the gauge length (G), provided that G w
as greater than the width of the sample. Finally, it was also shown that th
e w(e) and beta w(P) values for SENT specimens are obviously greater than t
hose for DENT specimens. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.