Reducible properties of draw temperature, rate of strain and filler content in tensile yield stress of polymethylmethacrylate filled with ultrafine particles

Abstract

The yield stress of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) composites filled with ultrafine SiO₂ particles was measured as a function of the draw temperature, rate of strain and filler content. The yield stress of the composites increased with increasing filler content and decreasing filler size. The tensile yield stress was found to be reducible with regard to draw temperature, rate of strain and filler content. At a given filler content, a master curve was obtained for the yield stress plotted versus the logarithm of the strain rate. The Arrhenius plot of the shift factors (a _T ) used to produce the strain rate-temperature master curve formed a single curve for all sizes and loadings of the filler. The master curves obtained for different loadings of a filler of given size could be further reduced into a master-master curve by shifting them along the axis of strain rate, with the logarithm of the second shift factors (loga _c ) proportional to the 4/5th power of the filler volume fraction (V _f ). The proportionality constant and the exponent represent the extent of the filler reinforcing effect in the polymer. These values were found to be correlated with the critical surface tension of the polymers.