Cracking resistance and long-term strength of dispersion-hardened composites

Conclusions The previously proposed relationships were used to develop a method of predicting the endurance of dispersion-hardened composites on the basis of results of tensile tests on the material at a constant strain rate. It is shown that stress raisers in the form of cut out or defects which weaken the working cross section, greatly reduce the endurance of the material. The proposed method of evaluating the effect of stress raisers on the endurance of polymer materials is based on the assumption on the initiation of a crack-like defect and its propagation in accordance with the loss of linear fracture mechanics.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 869–877, September–October, 1989.