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Impact fracture energy of mineral‐filled polypropylene
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Researchers measured impact fracture energy of polypropylene composites with calcium carbonate fillers across temperatures from -40 to 40 degrees Celsius. Coarser fillers improved fracture energy in homopolymer grades at low temperatures by enhancing microplastic flow at the fracture surface, while having little effect on copolymer grades.
Abstract The impact fracture energy ( G c ) for a polypropylene homopolymer and a copolymer with and without calcium carbonate fillers was measured over a range of temperatures between −40°C and 40°C using fracture mechanics principles. The fillers studied were Omyacarb (∼2.7 μm) and Winnofil (∼75 nm) and 10% by weight was added to the matrix material. These fillers did not have any appreciable effect on G c of the copolymer‐based composites. However, the Omyacarb fillers improved G c of the homopolymer at low temperatures (⩽20°C) due to enhanced microplastic flow as observed on the fracture surfaces. The fillers increased the stiffness of both the homopolymer and copolymer. It would appear that up to 10% of cheap calcium carbonate fillers could be added to the more expensive polypropylene to reduce the production cost without any significant loss of impact fracture energy.
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