Fracture toughness of bisphenol A-type epoxy resin

The relationship between the postcuring conditions and the fracture toughness of a bisphenol A-type epoxy resin cured with acid anhydride was investigated. The glass transition temperature and fragility parameter, derived from the thermo-viscoelasticity, were used to characterize the epoxy resin postcured under various conditions. Relationship between these two parameters and the fracture toughness was then investigated, based on the fractography results of a microscopic roughness examination of a fractured surface. The values of the glass transition temperature and fragility greatly depended on the postcuring conditions. The glass transition temperature was approximately 400 K when the crosslinking reaction was saturated. The fragility was independent of the saturation of the reaction and varied between 50 and 180. The results of the fracture test and fractography examination showed that there was no direct correlation between the glass transition temperature, the fracture toughness, and the roughness. On the other hand, there was a correlation between the fragility, fracture toughness, and roughness when the glass transition temperature saturated (at 400 K). As the fragility decreased from 180 to 50, the fracture toughness increased from 0.6 to 1.1 MPa m(1/2) at the same glass transition temperature. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.