Multiaxial stress state assessed by 3D X-Ray tomography on semi-crystalline polymers

Abstract

This work aims at linking the microstructural evolution of semi-crystalline polymers to the macroscopic material behaviour under multiaxial stress state. Tensile tests on notched round bars, interrupted after different stages of deformation before failure, were supposed to have undergone various states of stress in the vicinity of the net cross-section. They were examined using synchrotron radiation tomography. A sample obtained from a test stopped at the end of sfress softening stage showed elongated axi-symmetric columns of voids separated by thin ligaments of material. This special morphology allowed investigating the distributions of voids in terms of both volume fraction and orientation. This distribution was compared with the theoretical multiaxial stress/strain field. The combination of the tomographic images analyses and the continuum mechanics approach results in a determination of the principal mechanical parameter driving voids evolution.