An integrated approach towards the study of scratch damage of polymer

Abstract

To seek a better understanding of the scratch damage of polymers, an integrated analysis approach is proposed in this article. This integrated approach essentially involves (a) the use of a new scratch test device for testing, (b) employing microscopy techniques and image an analysis tool, VIEEW ® , for studying material damage and scratch visibility, and finally (c) performing finite element (FE) modeling to examine the mechanical response of the polymeric substrate involved during the scratch process. Applying this approach to five model material systems and employing linearly increasing load tests, the findings of the fundamental material science study of the scratch damage of these materials are presented. From the three-dimensional FE analysis, the numerical results generated were able to reasonably predict the scratch damage and provide corresponding mechanistic interpretation. The essential link between material science and mechanics outlines the uniqueness of this approach for studying the scratch damage of polymers.

Influence of surface roughness and contact load on friction coefficient and scratch behavior of thermoplastic olefins

“…For scratch tests on TPOs with a spherical tip and a progressive applied normal load, an evolution of polymer surface scratch damage can be observed [4][5][6][7][8][9]. The first stage of scratch-induced deformation is termed ''mar'' where the tip causes a smooth, compressive-type indentation that slightly scatters light and alters the local surface gloss.…”

“…Concerning scratch behavior of polymers in general, intensive research efforts have been conducted over the last two decades [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. It is intuitively evident that surface characteristics and material parameters can have significant effects on scratch behavior.…”

Determination of epoxy coating wet-adhesive strength using a standardized ASTM/ISO scratch test

“…19,21 Figure 7 shows the stress magnitude variations of both debonding stress and the in-layer tensile stress as a function of the increasing scratch normal load. The occurrence of either in-layer cracking or coating delamination depends on many factors, such as the coating ductility, Young's modulus, yield stress, coating thickness, cohesive strength, and adhesive strength.…”

“…[20][21][22] To quantitatively determine the coating adhesive strength, the onset normal load of scratch-induced debonding can be experimentally obtained. By a correlation between the experimentally observed coating delamination and the corresponding stress state and magnitudes obtained by FEM modeling, it becomes possible for quantitative determination of the coating wet-adhesive strengths.…”

Experimental and numerical investigations of evaluation criteria and material parameters' coupling effect on polypropylene scratch

“…Those factors influence the scratch performance by altering the mechanical properties of PP, as well as changing the coefficient of friction between the PP and the scratch tip . The integrated approach of scratch test and finite element analysis is a practicable tool to obtain a better understanding of the scratch behavior of PP .…”