Fracture toughness and failure assessment for particulate reinforced composites considering viscoelasticity

Fracture mechanics models which are appropriate to describe failure behavior of highly filled elastomers were discussed, and then the strip‐yield and the inherent flaw models were applied to them. In order to generate failure assessment diagrams, the two models were moderately modified, and the experiments of fracture mechanics were conducted using center cracked tension (CCT) specimens made of a highly filled elastomer applying the ASTM E399 standard. The failure assessment diagram of the modified inherent flaw model was normalized to compare with that of the modified strip‐yield model. From the comparison between two failure assessment diagrams, it was found that the failure assessment diagram of the modified inherent flaw model more conservatively assesses the failure than that of the modified strip‐yield model.