Fracture toughness of thermoplastic co-poly (ether ester) elastomer - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene terpolymer blends

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene terpolymer (ABS) was blended with thermoplastic co-poly (ether ester) elastomer (COPE) in different weight ratios in a twin screw extruder. Fracture toughness of the blends as a function of COPE weight percentage was studied. Fracture toughness was investigated using the J-integral by locus method developed by Kim et al. [B.H. Kim, C.R. Joe, D.M. Otterson, Polym. Test. 8 (1989) 119]. The fracture toughness of the blend with 5 wt% shows higher fracture toughness than pure ABS. The correlation of the topology of the fracture surface with the fracture toughness of the blends was carried out. The physical properties of the blends were studied. The addition of COPE improves the impact property, while flexural modulus shows a slight increase when ABS is blended with COPE at low concentration. The SEM micrographs show three-phase morphology. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.