Open AccessThe fracture resistance of bi-axially orientated PMMA
Author(s) -
Jingling Zhao,
B.R.K. Blackman,
Yatish Patel,
Yan Ya
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/770/1/012025
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , axial symmetry , fracture toughness , fracture (geology) , enhanced data rates for gsm evolution , plane (geometry) , polymethyl methacrylate , amorphous solid , toughness , polymer , structural engineering , geometry , crystallography , telecommunications , chemistry , mathematics , computer science , engineering
The mechanical performance of the transparent polymer PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) can be significantly enhanced by the process of bi-axial stretching during manufacture. However, few studies have reported on the fracture properties of bi-axially oriented PMMA. In this work, the fracture toughness and resulting surface morphology of bi-axially orientated PMMA has been investigated by testing single edge notch bend fracture specimens under quasi-static test conditions. The orientation of the specimens with respect to the stretching direction was systematically varied such that the effect of in-plane orientation and out-of-plane orientation was determined. The out-of-plane fracture resistance was shown to be enhanced compared to the in-plane resistance and compared to amorphous PMMA. Both out-of-plane and in-plane crack orientations had little effect on fracture resistance. Complex crack growth behavior and surface morphologies were observed in the out-of-plane direction. The results have important implications for the study of damage tolerance of transparent canopies in the aircraft industry.