Mechanics of Notched Izod impact testing of polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is widely used as a transparent protective material because of its low density and excellent mechanical properties. However, when defects such as cracks or notches are introduced, it is subject to catastrophic brittle failure at relatively low loads. Notched Izod testing is a common qualitative measure of toughness of a material, measuring energy absorbed prior to failure under high triaxiality and high rate loading conditions. Much research has been done using Izod testing to compare the fracture energies of blends of Polycarbonate and rubbery materials; however the specific yielding and fracture mechanisms associated with each blend are rarely analyzed. This study presents detailed images, fracture energies, and time durations of the deformation and failure processes actively occurring during the Notched Izod testing of 3.23mm and 6.35mm thick Polycarbonate specimens, as well as of a quasi-static version of Notched Izod bending. The thin specimens were found to yield in a ductile manner followed by tearing across most of the ligament width, resulting in a final failure including a small plastically-deformed ligament hinging the two failure surfaces in both the Notched Izod impact and Quasi-Static tests.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Silberstein, Meredith N

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mary C. Boyce.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32917

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32917