Influence of Morphology on Fracture Propagation of PMMAe/PC Blend in Tensile Tests at High Strain Rate

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate toughness mechanism of elastomeric poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMAe) and polycarbonate (PC) blend through crack propagation at high speed tensile tests. Samples are processed using two types of extruders, single and twin screw, in order to eliminate the influence of processing in the final product's properties. Pure polymers and polymer blend samples are cryo‐ultramicrotomed and their morphology is characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Fractured samples obtained from uniaxial tensile tests at high strain rate are inspected using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained for the PMMAe/PC blend in tests at high deformation rate showed that the shear rate during the mixing process influences the maximum strength of the polymer blend near its region of co‐continuous morphology. The visual evaluation of the fracture surface and the fractographic analysis corroborated the results of this study of polymer toughening.

Preparation, Thermal, and Thermo-Mechanical Characterization of Polymeric Blends Based on Di(meth)acrylate Monomers

“…Under changes of the temperature, various fragments of polymers may behave differently and hence the differences during the DMA analysis were observed. Based on the images, it can be established that all ingredients of the blends are uniformly distributed (particularly at the macroscopic level) [55]. In case of the largest ratio of polycarbonate (10 wt.%), some small changes in the surface structure can be seen, which may be the reason for the phase separation.…”