Fractographic study of macrocrack propagation in oriented Kapron

The fracture surface of an oriented Kapron monofilament has been studied at electron-microscope and optical magnifications with the object of establishing the details of the micromechanism of crack propagation associated with the fracture of polymeric materials. Microparabolic figures can be observed in the specular zone of the fracture surface. This relief may be assumed to originate in the interaction of the main crack and the submicroscopic cracks present in loaded polymers. In the region of high main-crack velocities it is possible to observe a self-oscillatory motion of the tip of the main crack leading to the formation on the fracture surface of a system of bands parallel to the main crack front.Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 645–648, July–August, 1971.     

Evolution of the Stress–Strain State of a Three-Dimensional Plate Weakened by a Central Crack under Impulsive Tension

A method is developed to describe the formation of the stress–strain state in the vicinity of the tip of a stationary crack in a three-dimensional plate under dynamic loading. The energy model used to describe the formation of the stress concentration zone around the crack tip is modified to take into account the transient character of the loading process and the influence of the free surfaces of the plate on the stress–strain state of the central part of the sample. The method is useful for describing static and dynamic brittle fracture from a unified point of view.     

Conditions of the ductile-brittle transition in failure of polymer materials

Conclusions The polymer materials are characterized by the transition from ductile to brittle fracture with increasing loading rate and decreasing temperature. The brittle fracture susceptibility of the material can be determined on the basis of the critical size of the defect/ crack. The measure of the cracking resistance of plastics can often be represented by the material scale of the crack length. The quality of the critical size of the defect/crack to the material scale of the crack length can be used as a criterion determining the conditions of transition from ductile to brittle fracture.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 779–785, September–October, 1988.     

Role of the supermolecular structure of PMM in the morphology of fracture and features introduced by the type of loading

The spherulitic supermolecular structure of PMM, expressed in the fracture surface, determines the fracture pattern and kinetics. The effect of the type of loading on the morphology of the fracture surface is described. Banding of the fracture surface is attributed to periodic energy pulses leading to quasi-brittle fracture at the moving crack front and selective local crack development at the band edges.Riga Lenin Komsomol Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 776–782, September–October, 1968.     

Experimental study of fracture toughness and energy in composite materials

The paper presents an experimental investigation of fracture characteristics of composite materials. The post-peak response of the load-crack opening displacement of notched specimens is used to evaluate the fracture energy associated with progressive matrix damage and crack growth. Effects of fiber orientation and other geometric characteristics on fracture parameters are studied. The load versus crack opening displacement as well as crack length, fracture toughness, and energy versus the number of loading cycles are obtained for different specimens. Based on the experimental results of this study, concepts of the fracture mechanics are applied to evaluate the evolution of fracture toughness and energy.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 323–332, May–June, 1998.     

Effect of submicroscopic crack formation and relaxation phenomena in polymers

The development of submicrocracks and the changes taking place in their concentration during loading and unloading cycles were studied by the low-angle x-ray scattering method in oriented amorphous-crystalline polymers (capron and polypropylene). The deformation () of the polymers was compared with the changes in submicrocrack concentration (N_cr).A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 3, pp. 387–392, May–June, 1970.     

Nondestructive evaluation of fatigue-induced changes in the structure of composites by an ultrasonic method using a laser

Studies were conducted to nondestructively evaluate the damage to a glass-fiber-reinforced plastic during cyclic and static loading. The evaluation was made by an ultrasonic method employing a laser. In both the unloaded and loaded specimens, the ultrasound attenuation spectrum has a resonance peak attributable to the periodic nature of the structure of the composite. This peak is shifted to the low-frequency region during static loading, due to a decrease in the elastic modulus. The spectra obtained after cyclic loading have no resonance peaks, due to attenuation of the ultrasound over a broad range of frequencies by a large number of fatigue cracks. Additional static loading results in concentration of the cracks near the boundary between the glass fibers and the polymer matrix, which leads to the formation of a resonance peak in the high-frequency region of the spectrum.Paper to be presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, October, 1995).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 405–410, May–June, 1995.     

Investigation of the fatigue properties and susceptibility to damage of thin-walled polymer shells

The results of a study of the damage suffered by thin-walled polymer shells are evaluated on the basis of an analysis of the process of crack formation and the variation of the modulus of elasticity under cyclic deformation. The process of fatigue failure has been studied in relation to shells made of three groups of polymeric materials. It is shown that for the polymers investigated there are at least two different fatigue fracture mechanisms. Data on the crack growth kinetics are presented.Plastopolimer Research and Production Association, Leningrad; Lensovet Leningrad Technological Institute. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1019–1026, November–December, 1971.     

Lifetime analysis with allowance for bond stress distribution

A fracture model consisting of a set of bonds assigned various stress concentration coefficients is proposed. The bond lifetime is determined from Zhurkov's equation; the relative number of bonds with a particular _* being taken in accordance with a Weibull distribution. The model explains the similarity of the shapes of the submicrocrack accumulation and creep curves.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 2, pp. 227–231, March–April, 1973.     

Molecular destruction of polymers at the apex of a major crack

We employed infrared spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy of deflected total internal reflection to study the rupture of polymer macromolecular chains (polyethylene and polypropylene) at the apex of a growing crack. It was shown that the break concentration at the crack surface is of the same order of magnitude as the total concentration of chemical bonds in the polymer; molecular rupture occurs not only at the apex itself but also at some distance from it. The dependence of the break concentration on the distance from the crack apex was measured. The observed patterns were related to the experimentally determined external-load distribution function for individual chemical bonds near the crack apex.I. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 621–625, July–August, 1972.     

Effect of temperature on the fracture surfaces of filled systems based on SKS-85 butadiene-styrene copolymer

The tear fracture surfaces of mixtures of SKS-85 butadiene — styrene copolymer (85% styrene) with ordinary (carbon black, chalk) and polymeric (Kapron and cellophane powder) fillers have been investigated on the interval from –60 to +40°C. As the temperature varies within the limits of the glassy state (T_g SKS-85=+24°C) of the filled polymer, the nature of the fracture surface of specimens of filled mixtures, like that of the unfilled polymer, changes; in the region of the temperature transition of the copolymer associated with the mobility of the phenyl groups (–10±5°C) there is a slowing of the fracture process. At temperatures below the T_g of the copolymer the tear fracture surfaces of specimens of mixtures containing ordinary and polymeric fillers differ sharply. The introduction of fillers (20 vol. %) with a coefficient of thermal expansion different from that of the filled polymer considerably reduces the resistance of the material to fracture and leads to a sharp increase in the rate of crack propagation; the introduction of polymeric fillers with coefficients of thermal expansion similar to that of the filled polymer leads to an increase in the resistance of the material to fracture and to a decrease in the rate of crack propagation.Moscow Technological Institute of the Meat and Dairy Industry; State Institute of Polymer Adhesives, Kirovakan. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 819–826, September–October, 1969.     

On the fracture mechanism in filled rubbers

Possible fracture mechanisms in filled rubbers are examined in the light of the adhesion theory of elastomer reinforcement. The cases of rubbers containing inactive fillers, when the crack grows along the elastomer-filler boundary, and rubbers containing active fillers, when the crack propagates through the polymer, are considered. The effect of the presence of chains of filler particles on the fracture mechanism is examined.Lomonosov Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 127–133, January–February, 1969.     

Fracture toughness characteristics of laminated composites

Parameters characterizing the resistance of laminated composites to interlaminar fracture are discussed. The properties of the specific interlaminar fracture work, i.e., the amount of work spent on the formation of a unit of new surface of interlaminar crack, were examined. Taking account of the anisotropy of the material, this work may be characterized using a matrix. Upon change in the direction of crack growth, the matrix elements are transformed similarly to the components of a symmetrical second rank tensor. An interpretation is offered for the matrix elements. The proposed theoretical model was in accord with our experimental results.Moscow Engineering Institute. Technical University, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 1, pp. 21–31, January–February, 1996.     

Polymer fractography and fracture kinetics

A relationship is established between the temperature-time dependence of the radial dimensions of the specular zones on polymer (PMM, PCL) fracture surfaces and the parameters characterizing the kinetics of main-crack growth. This makes it possible to calculate the kinetic crack growth parameters from the data of a fractographic investigation.For the first article on this subject see [1].Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 842–847, September-October, 1970.     

Investigation of polytetrafluorethylene surface texture

Results are given of an X-ray investigation of the formation of a textured surface layer on polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) film and its dependence on external mechanical factors — unit load and sliding speed. It is established that the thickness of the surface texture of PTFE is determined by the relation between the processes of texture formation under the influence of frictional forces and its destruction by wear. These processes, in turn, are determined by the working parameters of the moving joint. Data on the kinetics of polymer surface texture formation in the presence of friction are extremely useful in relation to the design of efficient antifriction materials.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 129–132, 1965     

Crack formation under compression

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the formation of a tensile stress zone (separation zone) in a crack of finite width under uniaxial transverse compression, assuming the existence of prefracture zones that satisfy a linear one-parameter relationship between stress and displacement vectors. A crack formation criterion is stated, and practical fracture criteria are analyzed from the point of view of locality of the crack formation process.Simferopol' University. Translated from Dinamicheskie Sistemy, No. 10, pp. 3–8, 1992.     

Comparison of the long-term strengths of polymers under uniaxial alternating and pulsating loads

The laws of fracture of PMMA and PS under uniaxial alternating and pulsating cyclic loading have been investigated at several loading frequencies and two test temperatures. An analysis of the dependence of the long-term strength on stress, heating kinetics and the form of the specimen fracture surface has shown that transition from cyclic tension to more complex alternating loading in the tension-compression regime does not change the basic nature of the cyclic fatigue effect and is reflected only in an increase in the local stress concentration and heating.A. F. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 3, pp. 483–488, May–June, 1972.     

裂纹面分布加载裂尖SIFs分析的广义参数Williams单元北大核心CSCD

带裂缝服役是工程结构的常态,由于流体侵入到裂缝内部,裂纹面直接受荷,使得裂缝进一步扩展,甚者影响结构的安全性.广义参数Williams单元(简记W单元)在分析断裂问题中,利用Williams级数建立裂尖奇异区的位移场,通过求解广义刚度方程可直接获得应力强度因子(stress intensity factors,SIFs),具有高精高效性;但W单元需满足奇异区内裂纹面自由的边界条件,故在分析裂纹面加载的问题中受限.该文基于SIFs互等,在等效奇异区范围中,将裂纹面的荷载等效为奇异区外围边界裂纹面上的集中力,避免奇异区内裂纹面受荷,故采用W单元即可简便计算.算例分析表明:等效奇异区尺寸取裂纹长度的1/20,等效荷载系数P建议取2.0,W单元计算精度均满足1%的误差限,证明该文在奇异区裂纹面受荷等效处理方法上具有合理性、通用性,克服了W单元在分析裂纹面加载问题的局限性.     

Supersonic crack propagation in blocks of polymethyl methacrylate

It is shown that a giant laser pulse can cause supersonic crack propagation in PMMA. The results of the experiments and a microstructural analysis of the fracture surface are presented. A study of the microstructure shows that supersonic crack propagation is associated with the propagation of a shock wave in the focal region.Institute of Problems of Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1027–1029, November–December, 1971.     

Relaxation effects and the nature of damage accumulation in polymethyl methacrylate under static loads

The relation between the size of the specular zone on the fracture surfaces of PMMA specimens and the loading rate is investigated at various temperatures. It is shown that the rate and time dependences of the size of the specular zone have certain common characteristics determined by the kinetic nature of damage accumulation in the material. It is proposed to employ the Robertson method [8] for studying the crack growth kinetics in polymers. This makes it unnecessary to observe the growth of cracks in the specimen during testing.All-Union Correspondence Structural Engineering Institute, Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 663–669, July–August, 1971.