An evaluation of the short rod technique to measure the fracture toughness of polymers

Abstract

The investigation of the fundamental variables which influence the fracture toughness of structural plastics is greatly hampered by a large amount of scatter and uncertainty associated with the fracture toughness measurement. A major part of the problem is due to a lack of adherence to ASTM Standard E399, mainly with regard to the requirement for a fatigue crack. A razor-blade arrested crack, which is often blunted, is common practice in the plastics field. It is also common to ignore size (plane strain) and precise machining requirements. The short rod (SR) method was evaluated as a potentially more precise and simpler fracture toughness measurement. This toughness measurement is made on a slowly moving and presumably sharp crack, and the geometry of the sample enforces plane strain conditions. Toughness measurements on compact tension (CT) specimens via ASTM E399 were performed on one-inch (25 mm) samples of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC) and polysulphone (PSO). Also, a constant compliance method using a contoured double cantilever beam (CDCB) was used to evaluate the toughness of PS, PC, and PSO, but in general we did not achieve stable crack growth. The used samples were then fabricated into SR specimens and their toughness measured. The CT and CDCB methods agreed with each other for PSO and PC, but for PS the CDCB method gave high values. It is argued that the SR method should be compared to the other methods without using a plasticity correction. Then the SR method agrees well with the CT method for PSO and PS and is 15% higher for PC. The PMMA SR results were invalid. Differences between the methods are explained in terms of crack blunting, rate effects, non-homogeneity, residual stresses and the global nature of the crack front. The SR method has promise for polymer evaluation but more experience and evaluation is needed. The method is unique in the ability to study the effects of thermal history and of the environment on fracture toughness.