MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF POLYCARBONATE-POLYSULFONE AND POLYCARBONATE-POLYETHERIMIDE BLENDS

Five, ten, and twenty percent by weight blends of polysulfone in polycarbonate and polyetherimide in polycarbonate were produced by melt blending. The materials were injection molded into plaques. Mechanical analysis consisting of tensile, pendulum impact, and ballistic impact testing was conducted using the plaques or samples machined from the plaques. The average impact strength and percentage of ductile failures decreased with increasing composition of polysulfone and polyetherimide. The tensile test results indicate that a relationship exists between the percent composition and the yield strength for the blends with the blends showing an improvement in tensile strength. The ballistic testing results show that a possibly linear relationship exists between the percent composition and the critical velocity for complete penetration. Differential scanning calorimetry was conducted to measure the glass transition temperatures of the materials. The presence of two glass transition temperatures and lack of transparency have indicated that the blends are immiscible. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.