Mechanism of fracture of metallic coating during uniaxial stretching of substrate polymer at temperatures below its glass transition temperature

The mechanism of fracture is studied for a thin metallic (platinum, gold) coating deposited onto the surface of glassy poly(ethylene terephthalate) that is subjected to uniaxial stretching. The structure of the surface layer in the deformed polymer and the size distribution of the fragments produced by fracture are analyzed. Fragmentation of the coating is shown to take place in a narrow region between the undeformed polymer and the forming neck. Examination of this region allows one to distinguish two different stages of fracture. At the initial stage, the deposited coating randomly breaks down into fairly large fragments. In the region of main orientational transformation of the polymer (in the zone of the forming neck), the predominant mechanism of fracture in the coating is breaking of large fragments formed at the first stage into two equal parts. This mechanism of fragmentation is shown to be universal and independent of the nature of the metal.