Previous research in participate composites suggested that the overall toughness is dependent solely on the number of particle/crackfront interactions. A threshold number of interactions exist for each particle loading to achieve a steady-state toughness - interactions beyond this threshold limit do not enhance the overall toughness. The samples of this prior work were double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens consisting of glass and varied particulate-loaded composite layers arranged in various sequences. The present study analyzes the fracture surfaces of these specimens using fractographic and fractal analyses. The analysis of the fracture surface features showed a direct correlation between the fracture toughness of the specimen and the fractal dimension measurements in each layer of the composite. The results of this study imply that the fracture topography of the entire surface is determined by the local environment of the initial crack at the time of crack propagation.
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