Dimensional Analysis for Predicting the Fracture Behavior of Particulate Polymer Composite Under the Effect of Impact Loading

Abstract

In the current study, a methodology of dimensional analysis based on Buckingham-pi theorem is presented to determine the dynamic fracture behavior of glass filled epoxy composites. Rod shaped glass fillers having an aspect ratio of 80 have been used to reinforce the epoxy matrix. These glass fillers were used in the volume fraction of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15%. Dynamic fracture toughness index for crack-opening mode (mode-I) is proposed to find out the fracture toughness of the Particulate Polymer Composites (PPCs) under different strain rate conditions of impact loading. The legitimacy of the proposed methodology is supported with the limited experimental results of dynamic fracture test which was conducted for varying filler concentration. The influence of various governing factors on the fracture toughness of the particulate polymer composites is also discussed and shear wave speed is found to have the most pronounced effect on the dynamic fracture toughness of the resulting composite. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.