A MODEL FOR PARTICLE CAVITATION IN RUBBER-TOUGHENED PLASTICS

An energy-balance criterion for cavitation of rubber particles, which was proposed in an earlier paper [A. Lazzeri and C. B. Bucknall, J. Mater. Sci. 28 (1993) 6799], is developed by including a term for the energy stored in the matrix and released during expansion of the voids. The model relates the critical volume strain at cavitation to the radius of the rubber particle, and to the shear modulus, surface energy and failure strain of the rubber. The effects of temperature, strain rate and type of stress field upon cavitation behaviour and the resulting toughness of the two-phase polymer are discussed in terms of the model.