Author(s)

T. Ha Anh & T. Vu-Khanh

Abstract

Fracture and yielding behaviors of polystyrene/ethylene - propylene rubber blends: Effects of interfacial agents T. Ha Anh & T. Vu-Khanh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sherbrooke University, Canada. Abstract The aim of this work is to understand the effects of two triblock copolymers of different molecular weights on fracture and yielding behaviors of a blend of 80 volume % of polystyrene (PS) and 20 volume % of ethylene - propylene rubber (EPR), over a large range of loading rates and temperatures. The focus is put on the time - temperature dependence of fracture performance of these blends. The correlation between temperature and loading rate in yielding behavior of the blends seems to be controlled by the molecular relaxation according to the Ree- Eyring theory. This model, based on the assumption of two Eyring processes (a and p processes) acting in parallel, allows prediction of the tensile and compression yield stress at various loading rates and temperatur

Keywords