FUNDAMENTAL-STUDY ON RUPTURE BY LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE OF POLYMERS APPLYING THE FINE-GRID METHOD

Few studies have been made on the fracture mechanics of polymers, their resistance to plastic failure, fatigue rupture, and the adverse effects of environmental conditions, in contrast to the numerous studies conducted on metallic materials. Since fatigue is characterized by very local and cyclic fractures, in the present study a real-time fine-grid method was applied to study the fatigue rupture of polymers: to examine changes in local strain at the root of the notch during the process of crack initiation, the local strain at the tip of the crack during crack propagation and the relation between the plastic zone formed in front of the crack tip and the rate of crack propagation. As a result, strong correlation between three proposed parameters of the local crack-tip strain, the crack initiation and the propagation rate was obtained, and the mechanism of low-cycle fatigue rupture of polymers could be discussed.