Fine structures and fracture processes in plastic-rubber two-phase polymer systems IV. Temperature and strain rate dependences of tensile properties

Yield stress (σ_Y) and elongation to break (ε_b) were measured over a wide range of temperature under three different strain rates (\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \dot \varepsilon $\end{document}) for a series of polyvinylchloride-rubber blends, ABS polymer and high-impact polystyrene. It was found that a temperature-strain rate reduction was possible for σ_Y and the composite curve obtained by the superposition was expressed by the following relation: where K₁ and K₂ are the material constants, and A_T is the shift factor. As for ε_b, a new maximum was found at around room temperature in addition to the known maximum at around the glass transition temperature of the matrix phase. The results are discussed in terms of the craze theory for rubber toughening of plastics.