14 Yield Crazing and Fracture 14,1 Introduction: Ductile and Brittle Behavior 582 14.2 Shear Yield 584 143. Crazing 602 14.4 Fracture in Polymers 613 Problem Sets 642 References 651 14.1 INTRODUCTION: DUCTILE AND BRITTLE BEHAVIOR The most common type of stress-strain tests is that in which the response (strain) of a sample subjected to a force that increases with time, at constant rate, is measured. The shape of the stress-strain curves is used to define ductile and brittle behavior. Since the mechanical properties of polymers depend on both temperature and observation time, the shape of the stress— strain curves changes with the strain rate and temperature. Figure 14.1 illustrates different types of stress-strain curves. The curves for hard and brittle polymers (Fig. 14.1a) show that the stress increases more or less linearly with the strain. This behavior is characteristic of amorphous poly- 582Yield Crazing and Fracture 583 70 > 5 @35 e Brittle § £ = = . © Ductile co 10 °5 100 o eeny ™ eth) (a) (b) 15 a e = > Elastomer 0 ° € () 500 (c) Figure 14.1 Typical stress-strain curves for polymers. (The scales reflect the order of magnitude commonly found.) mers at temperatures well below the glass transition temperature (T < T,); these materials (e.g., polystyrene, T, * 100°C) fail at low strains, leading to brittle fracture at room temperature. Semicrystalline polymers and thermo- set resins at T < T, also exhibit the pattern shown in Figure 14.1a. The curve in Figure 14.1b represents polymers showing a ductile behavior that yields before failure. The most ductile polymers undergo necking and cold drawing. Semicrystalline polymers are typical examples that display this behavior at temperatures intermediate between melting and glass transition (I, T,) (see Chapter 3). An inspection of the curves of Figure 14.1 shows that the brittle behavior is that displayed by a sample that fails due to fracture at the maximum stress with relatively small strains (< 10%), while ductile samples display a maximum in the stress, failing at higher strains. Although very ductile plastics, like polyethylene, can reach strains of up to 250% prior to final failure, some polymers fail immediately after yielding.584 Chapter 14 In polymer materials it is difficult to distinguish between elastic defor- mation (recoverable) and plastic deformation (nonrecoverable), since the degree to which a sample recovers its original dimensions depends on tem- perature and time. High molecular mass thermoplastics can return to their original dimensions from high strains if they are heated after the load is removed. As in elastomers (see Chap. 3) the recovering force giving rise to this process has an entropic character. Entanglements among chains in thermoplastics play a role similar to that of chemical cross-links in elasto- mers, and as a result the strain can be recovered as long as the entangle- ments are not destroyed. The most important mechanisms that can lead to plastic deformation in polymers are shear yielding and crazing. Shear yield- ing takes place at constant volume and leads to a large change in specimen shape. Crazes are the result of localized yield and are formed by microcav- ities bridged by fibrils; crazing leads to an increase in volume and is pre- cursor to brittle fracture. Yielding is involved in ductile failure of polymers and also in local crazing, which precedes brittle fracture. The understanding of yield in crystalline polymers is not as advanced as in other polycrystalline materials such as metals and ceramics. The reason is that the physical microstructure of a polymer is much more irregular and heterogeneous, making it more difficult to establish a correlation between yield and struc- ture. Moreover, the mechanical behavior of polymers is viscoelastic. Therefore, yield in polymers depends on temperature and strain rate and is also affected by pressure, and the stress-strain curves are dependent on the type of test: tension, bending, or compression. 14.2 SHEAR YIELD 14.2.4 Basic Concepts Figure 14.2 shows a stress-strain curve corresponding to a tensile test for ductile polymers. Nominal stress, 6, is plotted against nominal strain, ¢,. The lower diagram shows a side view of the change in the cross section of the specimen used in the test in the different strain regions. In region OA the dependence of o on ¢ is linear. In this region Hooke’s law is obeyed and the polymer recovers the original shape when the stress is removed (linear elastic or viscoelastic behavior). Starting at point A the curve changes slope until it reaches a maximum point, called the yield point, defined by its coordinates, i.e., the yield stress o, and the corresponding strain, ¢,. In general, the yield point marks the beginning of the plastic deformation of the material. However, when we are referring to polymer materials such a statement has to be considered with care. In polymers it is possible to detect plastic deformation before the yield point, and for strains greater than ¢, polymers