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Fracture of irradiated polystyrene
Author(s) -
Birkinshaw C.,
Buggy M.,
O'Neill M.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1990.070410744
Subject(s) - polystyrene , polybutadiene , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , composite material , elongation , irradiation , natural rubber , izod impact strength test , fracture (geology) , copolymer , polymer , physics , nuclear physics
Samples of polystyrene and high impact polystyrene of the butadiene copolymer type, have been subjected to irradiation in air to give received doses of up to 50 Mrad. Tensile and impact properties of the materials were measured using standard techniques. Whilst polystyrene showed little change in mechanical properties with received dose, the two phase high impact material showed significant effects with elongation at break and impact strength being reduced by an order of magnitude over the dose range examined. This behavior is thought to be associated with radiation induced crosslinking in the polybutadiene phase reducing the ability of the rubber to dissipate fracture energy. Micrographs of the tensile fracture surfaces of irradiated high impact polystyrene show evidence consistent with this mechanism.