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Impact fracture energy of mineral‐filled polypropylene
Author(s) -
Chen LeShang,
Mai YiuWing,
Cotterell Brian
Publication year - 1989
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.760290804
Subject(s) - polypropylene , materials science , composite material , calcium carbonate , copolymer , fracture (geology) , melt flow index , polymer
The impact fracture energy ( G c ) for a polypropylene homopolymer and a copolymer with and without calcium carbonate fillers was measured over a range of temperatures between −40°C and 40°C using fracture mechanics principles. The fillers studied were Omyacarb (∼2.7 μm) and Winnofil (∼75 nm) and 10% by weight was added to the matrix material. These fillers did not have any appreciable effect on G c of the copolymer‐based composites. However, the Omyacarb fillers improved G c of the homopolymer at low temperatures (⩽20°C) due to enhanced microplastic flow as observed on the fracture surfaces. The fillers increased the stiffness of both the homopolymer and copolymer. It would appear that up to 10% of cheap calcium carbonate fillers could be added to the more expensive polypropylene to reduce the production cost without any significant loss of impact fracture energy.