INITIATION AND GROWTH OF INTERFACIAL DEFECTS IN PARTICULATE-FILLED POLYMER COMPOSITES

The conditions of initiation and growth of interfacial defects in particulate-filled polymer compo-sites based on polyethylene, polypropylene, and epoxy resin matrices filled with glass spheres were investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The surface of the glass spheres was modified by various methods. Thin films were studied under conditions of elastic strain. The initiation and propagation of cracks were described by numerically solving the boundary problem of the elasticity theory in conjunction with the Griffith energy criteria of crack propagation. A model was proposed and substantiated to describe the kinetics of initiation and accumulation of microdebonding defects generated as a result of the development of local plastic flow regions.