Impact and yield properties of polycarbonate as a function of strain rate, molecular weight, thermal history, and temperature

Abstract

Abstract A study has been made on the impact and yield properties of polycarbonates from two manufacturers as a function of strain rate, melt flow rate, notch radius, thermal history, and test temperature. The yield stress increases with the strain rate and annealing time in exactly the way predicted by a recently proposed theory on nonlinear viscoelasticity of glassy polymers. The critical molecular weight for the transition from a ductile to a brittle break increased at higher rate of strain and also with the longer annealing times.