TOUGHNESS IMPROVEMENT OF POLYAMIDE 11 ASSESSED VIA QUASISTATIC TENSILE TESTS ON NOTCHED ROUND BARS

摘要

Toughening a polymeric material by adding rubber particles is a common technique used for glassy polymers and measured by means of Charpy or Izod impact tests. These latter are determined under dynamic conditions, thus at high strain rate or equivalently at very low temperature for polymeric materials.This work is devoted to three grades of semi-crystalline PolyAmide 11 (PA11), used in a large number of engineering components. Service conditions are close to the glass transition temperature. Therefore, tests with quasi-static loading are expected to be more appropriate. The aim of the study is to find a methodology allowing the quantification of toughness improvement. To this end, an experimental database was constituted. Three grades of PA11 were involved, that enable to analyze effects of: i) aging, ii) addition of a plasticizer iii) addition of rubber particles. Tensile tests were then carried out on notched round bars. Trends of load versus notch opening displacement curves are investigated. Longitudinal cross-sections on specimens issued from interrupted tests and fracture surfaces were examined in order to study deformation and damage mechanisms. An attempt is made to link toughness improvement to the increase in global fracture energy.