Ternary polymer composites: PA6,6/maleated SEES/glass beads

Polyamide 6,6 (PA6,6)/maleated styrene-hydrogenated butadiene-styrene (SEBS ) blends filled with up to 20% spherical glass beads (GBs) were prepared by extrusion and subsequent injection molding. Tensile and impact tests were used to examine the effect of GB additions on the mechanical behavior of PA 6,6/SEBS-g-MA 80/20 blend. Tensile measurements showed that the GB addition s improve the stiffness of the PA6,6/SEBS-g-MA 80/20 blend but had little e ffect on its tensile ductility. The impact test revealed that the impact st rength of PA6,6/SEBS-g-MA 80/20 blend tends to decrease with increasing GB content. Therefore, the GB additions were beneficial to maintain a stiffnes s-to-toughness balance of the PA6,6/SEBS-g-MA 80/20 blend. Finally, the cor relation between the experimental tensile stiffness and strength with vario us theoretical models is discussed. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.