THE EFFECT OF MICRON-RUBBER AND NANO-SILICA PARTICLES ON THE FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH BEHAVIOR OF AN EPOXY POLYMER

Abstract

A thermosetting epoxy polymer was hybrid-modified by incorporating 9 wt.% of CTBN rubber micro particles and 10 wt.% of silica nano-particles. The unmodified and the hybrid-modified resins were poured into steel moulds and cured to produce bulk epoxy polymer sheets from which standard compact tension test specimens were machined. Fatigue crack growth tests were conducted using a 50 kN servo-hydraulic test machine, with the following test parameters: stress ratio, R = σ min /σ max = 0.1, sinusoidal waveform and frequency, ν = 3 Hz. The crack length was monitored by a compliance technique. The fracture surfaces were observed in a high resolution scanning electron microscope. The fatigue crack growth rate of the hybrid epoxy polymer was observed to be significantly lower than that of the unmodified epoxy polymer. The threshold stress intensity factor range, ΔK th , of the epoxy polymer was observed to increase by the addition of micron-rubber and nano-silica particles. The energy dissipating mechanisms viz, (i) cavitation of the rubber microparticles followed by plastic-deformation and void growth of the epoxy and, (ii) silica nanoparticle debonding followed by plastic-deformation and void growth of the epoxy, were observed to be operative and contribute for the reduced crack growth rate in the hybrid epoxy polymer.