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The strength of glassy polymers
Author(s) -
Berry J. P.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760010305
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , brittleness , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , methyl methacrylate , fracture (geology) , stress (linguistics) , surface energy , copolymer , linguistics , philosophy
The Griffith theory for brittle fracture predicts that the tensile strength should be inversely proportional to the square root of the size of a defect or flaw in the sample tested. The validity of this relation has been investigated for the glassy polymers, poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystrene. The results indicate that the strength of the polymers depends on two factors: (1) the surface energy, and (2) the inherent flaw size. The surface energy is primarily that dissipated in a viscous flow process and the inherent flaw size is related to the tendency of the polymer to craze under stress.