FURI | Spring 2020

Analysis of PMMA Plastic Zone Size

In this project, the size of the plastic zone in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was measured as it changes with respect to temperature.  A windowed fixture was developed to hold heating elements near the sample during tensile testing on a precracked fracture specimen.  The size of the plastic zone was measured by digital image correlation as a function of the material temperature. The data from this research is useful for understanding toughening mechanisms in glassy materials under high rate deformation.