Effect of reducible properties of temperature, rate of strain, and filler content on the tensile yield stress of nylon 6 composites filled with ultrafine particles

Abstract

Abstract The yield stress of nylon 6 (Ny6) composites filled with ultrafine and micron-sized (SiO2 and glass) particles was measured as a function of temperature, rate of strain, and filler content. The yield stress of the composites filled with ultrafine SiO2 particles increased with filler content and decreased with filler size, whereas for composites filled with glass particles, this relation was reversed. For ultrafine SiO2 filled composites, the tensile yield stress was found to be reducible with regard to temperature, rate of strain, and filler content. At a given filler content, composite curves were obtained for yield stress plotted against the logarithm of the strain rate. The Arrhenius plot of the shift factors for composing the strain rate-temperature master curve formed a single curve irrespective of the filler content and size. The curve comprised two linear regions with a break appearing at 110[ddot], corresponding to a transition of the matrix polymer. The master curves obtained for different contents of a given size filler could be further reduced into a grand composite curve by shifting them along the axis of strain rate, with logarithmic second shifting them along the axis of strain rate, with logarithmic second shift factors proportional to the volume fraction of the filler. The dependence of the yield stress on the filler volume fraction and size is explained by a modified equation based on the dispersion strength theory with an aggregation parameter incorporated.