The mechanical properties of polymers are sensitive to temperature and loading rate. The fracture toughness or total fracture energy decreases with decreasing temperature [1], A variation loading rate test of polyacetal (POM) and Thermaplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer toughened POM showed that the fracture energy decreases with increasing loading rate [2], which demonstrates that changing loading rate can induce a transition from ductile to brittle fracture. However, there have been fewer studies of loading rate effect compared to changing temperature. Although dynamic fracture study of polymers has paid more attention recently [3,4], the combined study of temperature and loading rate effects is still quite rare. The present work emphasizes the loading rate effect in disclosing fracture transition, while the temperature effect is also considered at the same time. That is, the fracture tests were performed at different constant temperatures during changing loading rates.
展开▼