| Abstract: | A novel technique is described which enables reliable fracture toughness measurements to be made in impact test on relatively small specimens of a tough polyethylene. Composite specimens have been made in which a tough polyethylene is sandwiched between two layers of a more brittle polyethylene. The overall fracture toughness is interpreted on the basis of simple additivity of the strain energy release rate associated with each of the component layers. Brittle plane strain failures were obtained for specimens in which the relative thickness of the layers was varied over a substantial range and the fracture toughness of each layer determined by suitable extrapolation. The fracture toughness of the brittle layer obtained in this way agreed well with direct measurements on that material. |
