Temperature and deformation rate dependence of the work of fracture in polycarbonate (PC) film

Single edge notched polycarbonate (PC) specimens of thickness 0.175 mm were pulled to complete fracture at temperatures between 25 degreesC and 100 degreesC and at loading rate values of 2, 5 and 50 mm/min. A duckbill-shaped yielded zone was formed ahead of the crack tip in all the specimen tested. Propagation of the crack within the yielded zone was always stable. The method of essential work of fracture (EWF) was used to study the effects of temperature and loading rate on fracture toughness. The specific essential work of fracture, w(e), was found to be independent of both temperature and loading rate. The non-essential work of fracture, betaw(p), increased with increasing temperature but showed no systematic variation with respect to loading rate. Moreover, plastic constraint factor, m, also increased with increasing temperature. A linear temperature dependence was obtained for both betaw(p) and m giving the extrapolated values of betaw(p) = 0 and m = 0.5 at -23 degreesC. (C) 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers.