Tensile and fracture behaviors of PC/ABS polymer alloy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of morphology on the tensile properties and fracture properties of Polycarbonate (PC) / acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer alloy. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation shows that the co-continuous phase structure is formed at 60/40 compositions of PC/ABS. At 80/20 compositions, PC and ABS form continuous and dispersed phase, respectively. The yield stress, Possion's ratio and tensile strength follow a law of mixture. On the other hand, the Young's modulus appears the maximum value at co-continuous phase structure, i.e., 60/40 compositions. The fracture property in PC/ABS(80/20) is most excellent of all compositions. The microscopic observations suggest that the both effects of the release of triaxial stress by the separation of interface among each phase and the severely damaged deformation of rubber particles during fracture contribute to the toughening of PC/ABS(80/20).