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Microstructural control of fatigue-crack growth in a brittle, two-phase polymer

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Abstract

Fatigue-crack propagation in a brittle, two-phase polymer important in bioengineering applications has been studied. It was found that the polymeric microstructure, although based on PMMA, enhances the fatigue-crack growth resistance of the composite polymer, in comparison with pure PMMA. This enhanced behaviour derives from several micromechanisms, i.e. (1) crack front pinning by constituent particles, (2) a reduction of the intrinsic PMMA crack growth rate within the partially polymerized MMA matrix, and (3) crack-tip wandering and energy absorption through microcrack nucleation at matrix voids lying within the path of the crack.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    James Lankford & William J. Astleford

  2. University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA

    Marc A. Asher

Authors
  1. James Lankford
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  2. William J. Astleford
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  3. Marc A. Asher
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Lankford, J., Astleford, W.J. & Asher, M.A. Microstructural control of fatigue-crack growth in a brittle, two-phase polymer. J Mater Sci 11, 1624–1630 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737518

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00737518

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