A study of polymer fracture surface features and their relationship to toughness

The aim of this study was to research fracture surface features for polymers of different toughness and type. The materials chosen provided for an interesting comparison of fracture surfaces. Two brittle amorphous thermoplastics (SAN & PMMA) of the same toughness had very different fracture surfaces. An amorphous thermoplastic (PC) exhibited similar features as both SAN and PMMA but had a higher toughness. Two semi-crystalline thermoplastics (PE1 & PE2) had similar fracture surface features but one was twice the toughness of the other. A rubber toughened polymer (ABS) showed a very different fracture surface to SAN (the host material) and all the other polymers studied. A particular interest was to use the comparison of the fracture surfaces of the above materials to investigate the toughening effects of rubber particles in ABS.