Compare tensile properties of polymers to metals, discuss differences COMPARISON BETWEEN TENSILE PROPERTIES OF POLYMERS AND METALS Tensile

Properties Metals (Carbon steel) Polymers Yield Strength, ksi 26-270 1.3-12 Tensile Strength, ksi 80-300 1.2-15 Elastic Modulus, psi 7x106 - 60x106 1x103 - 0.6x106 Ductility (% elongation at break) 4-30 2-1200 Note: Comparison between properties metals and polymers are based on Table 11.1b, 11.2b, and Table 15.1 from Materials Science and engineering book The mechanical properties of polymers are usually specified in the same manner as metals such as tensile strength, yield strength and elastic modulus. For example, the stress-strain test conducted on acrylic and polycarbonate in this experiment was also conducted on metals such as carbon steel and aluminum to determine their tensile properties and behavior. However, polymers can behave from being ductile to brittle depending on temperature and strain rate whereas the tensile behavior of metals are not as sensitive to these variables as polymers. From Table 3, it can be observed that carbon steels are generally much stronger than polymers with high yield strength, tensile strength and elastic modulus. However, in terms of ductility, polymers may be more brittle or ductile than metals depending on temperature and strain rate as the strength of polymers are highly sensitive to these parameters. For example, a polymer subjected to either a high strain rate or a low temperature may only experience a few percent elongation compared to carbon steel under the same conditions. Likewise, at low strain rates or elevated temperatures, a polymer under tension may experience an elongation up to more than 1000% compared to that of metals (up to 30% only). These differences in the tensile properties of both materials can be attributed to the material composition of polymers and metals and microstructure as well. For metals, strength is highly dependent on composition where alloys containing impurities such as nickel and cobalt are stronger

that pure metals. Grain structures also affect the mechanical strength of metals in which smaller grain structures will results in a harder but more brittle metal and vice versa. Polymers consist of long molecular chains and their strength depends on molecular structure. Molecular structures with dense crosslinking and network generally result in thermosets which are stronger than thermoplastics which are usually composed of linear or branched molecular structures. However, as aforementioned, tensile properties of polymers are highly sensitive to external factors such as temperature and strain rate where low temperature and/or high strain rate result in a brittle behavior of polymers and vice versa. It should also be noted that the tensile strength of polymers are taken to be the stress at which the polymer fractures as opposed to metals where tensile strength is usually taken to be the highest point in the stress-strain curve. In addition, the stress-strain curves of ductile polymers usually has very large regions of plastic deformation before fracture as can be seen from the stress-strain plot of polycarbonate in Figures 5 & 7. Stress-strain curves of brittle polymers resemble that of metals except that the curves have very small regions of plastic deformations compared to that of metals. Fracture mode and surface features of ductile and brittle plastics under both strain rates (0.5 in/min and 40 in/min) Based on experimental results tabulated in Table 2 on page 27, acrylic exhibits brittle fracture whereas polycarbonate exhibits ductile fracture for both strain rates. This is supported by the fact that acrylic experiences an elongation of only about 4% under both strain rates whereas polycarbonate experienced an elongation of up to 50% under a strain rate of 0.5inch/min and about 44% at 40 inch/min. The fracture surfaces of acrylic under both strain rates were rough with very little plastic deformation compared to polycarbonate. Also, for the acrylic specimen subjected to 0.5 inch/min strain rate, the origin of crack propagation was indicated by the presence of a crack in the middle of the fracture surface (See Figure X). However, in this experiment, more plastic deformation was observed for

the specimen subjected to 40inch/min strain rate compared to the one under 0.5 inch/min. Here, it should be noted that acrylic should experience less elongation under a higher strain rate because higher strain rates causes polymers to behave in a more brittle manner compared to low strain rates as can be observed for polycarbonate. For polycarbonate specimens, the fracture surfaces under both strain rates were relatively smooth compared to acrylic with large plastic deformations and visible stretch marks on the plastically deformed part of both specimens (See Figure Y). It should be noted that the polycarbonate specimen subjected to a higher strain rate experienced less elongation compared to the one subjected to a lower strain rate because the high strain rate caused the specimen to behave in a more brittle manner albeit the fact that both specimens were the same in terms of composition and structure. Cup and cone feature was also observed on both specimens which indicated ductile fracture mode for polycarbonate under both strain rates. Also, the origin of fracture for the polycarbonate specimen subjected to 40 in/min strain rate was indicated by the presence of a crack at the tip of the surface fracture. In addition, buckling was observed on polycarbonate under both strain rates as the specimens appeared to be slightly bent. However, this observation can be attributed to the non-uniform elongation of the polycarbonate specimens under tensile load during elongation and therefore the possibility of buckling may be omitted in this experiment as this failure mode typically occurs only on structures subjected to axial compressive load. Effect of strain rate and failure mechanism behind this effect

Picture of deformation on pg 583 &584 on materials book here

Here, the mechanism of deformation shall be explained here with the aid of Figures Z and G before discussing the effect of strain rate on the tensile properties of polymers. The general microstructures of polymer are long molecular chains connected by covalent bonds which can be part of a compact lamellae connected to one another as shown in the figure above. When subjected to a low tensile load, the chains connecting both lamellae elongate (Stage 1) followed by an increased thickness in the lamellae if the load increases (See Stage 2 in Figure Z). It should be noted that elongation up to this point is elastic and reversible which explains why polymers have relatively low elastic modulus. From Figure G, it can be seen that further increase in the load triggers the onset of plastic deformation and the chains in the lamellae starts to slide part one another which results in the tilting of the lamellae to align with the tensile axis (See Stage 3 in Figure G). This is then followed by the separation of crystalline block segments from the lamellae (Stage 4) and finally, the blocks and tie chains become almost fully aligned with the tensile axis (Stage 5). Any further increase in the load beyond stage 5 will therefore result in fracture as observed from the specimens in the experiment. The effect of strain rate on the tensile properties of polymers is directly connected to the deformation mechanism described above as the process itself is affected by time. When subjected to a low strain rate, a polymer reacts to the load in a larger time span compared to one subjected to a high strain rate. This allows the polymer chains or molecules in the former to elongate and align themselves with the tensile axis within the large time span as the strain rate is low. Hence, diminishing the strain rate increases the ductility but decreases the elastic modulus and a reduction in tensile strength as can be seen from experimental results in Table 1. Under high strain rate, polymer chains have a shorter time span to react and align themselves to the tensile axis; this corresponds to a yanking effect on the polymer which causes it to fracture in a brittle manner although its original microstructure allows the polymer to undergo large plastic deformation before fracture. This effect can be seen on the polycarbonate specimen when subjected to a strain rate of 40 inch/min where a decrease in %

elongation, increase in both elastic modulus and tensile strength were observed compared to 0.5inch/min.