LOW TEMPERATURE FRACTURE STRAIN AT HIGH DEFORMATION RATES.

Abstract

One undesirable property of most polymers is their brittleness at low temperatures. Only some linear polymers, e. g. , PC, PSU, or PE, show some ductility at 4. 2 K. On the basis of previous experience, it is expected that brittleness increases with increasing deformation rate. This would be a further limitation on polymeric materials for low temperature applications. Strain rate dependence was tested at low temperatures on some selected polymers.