Macromolecules, Vol.32, No.6, 1918-1922, 1999
Cohesive failure in partially cured epoxies
The critical stress intensity factors of partially cured epoxies were measured with notched three-point bend fracture specimens and exhibited a strong dependence upon cross-link density, increasing by more than an order of magnitude over the wide range in extent; of reaction probed. In fact, the critical stress intensity factor appears to vanish at the gel point with a critical exponent, reminiscent of predictions from percolation theories of gelation.
Keywords:CROSS-LINK DENSITY;HIGHLY CROSSLINKED POLYMERS;MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES;CRACK-PROPAGATION;FRACTURE-TOUGHNESS;NETWORKS;RESIN;FRACTOGRAPHY;DEFORMATION