FRACTURE MECHANICS ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF RUBBER CONTENT ON RUBBER-MODIFIED POLYSTYRENE

Consideration is given to achieving test conditons in which linear elastic fracture mechanics may be employed to measure toughness in these rather ductile materials. This is achieved by testing wide specimens (100 mm) and these are employed to measure Kc over a wide range of temperatures for materials with several rubber levels. It is shown that both Kc and the yield stress are determined by the extent of crazing and that, at the low rates used here, the full crazing capacity of the polystyrene is utilized by the addition of about 1% of rubber. © 1979 Chapman and Hall Ltd.