FURI | Spring 2020

Fracture Propagation in Glassy Polymers Due to Temperature Differentials

The objective of this project is to determine how fracture behavior in glassy materials changes when there is a temperature gradient across the width of a crack front. Initially, dynamical mechanical testing was conducted to find the glass transition temperature of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) samples. Next, a temperature fixture was created to enclose fracture specimens between heating and cooling elements to achieve the desired temperature gradient. Fracture tests were then performed at varying temperatures approaching Tg using a test matrix designed to identify at which temperature gradient the fracture transitions from a brittle to a rubbery response.