Stability of ductile fracture of plastics

Mechanical behavior of highly ductile plastics (PET, LLDPE) does not require fracture mechanics to describe unless a large notch is present. We study characteristic responses of such plastics in terms of the nature of mechanical failure, e.g., whether test geometry affects the mode of macroscopic separation. The question challenges the established notion that mechanical behavior is material specific, independent of specimen geometry except for the case of notch-brittle PC where a thick PC specimen with notch turns brittle. We will explore the relationship between essential work [1] and specific work of fracture based on such super ductile plastics to expand beyond our knowledge [2] of brittle fracture in brittle glassy polymers.

1. Ward, I.M. and J. Sweeney, Mechanical properties of solid polymers. 2012: John Wiley & Sons.

2. Smith, T., et al., Toughness arising from inherent strength of polymers. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2022. 56.