Tshikwand GK, Moreno Mateos MA, Santarossa A, Steinmann P (2025)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2025
Book Volume: 327
Pages Range: 111439
Article Number: 111439
DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111439
The growing interest in multifunctional materials and their deployment in large-deformation applications underscores the need to investigate their structural integrity. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) exhibit shape morphing behavior, allowing reversible transitions between temporary and permanent configurations upon exposure to thermal stimuli. Consequently, the fracture behavior of SMPs is strongly temperature-dependent and it ranges from brittle to highly nonlinear fracture. Here we examine the fracture toughness of soft SMPs across their glassy, transition, and rubbery phases using two established experimental techniques: the Essential Work of Fracture and the
-integral method. Two SMPs with differing crosslinking agent concentrations—2.5 % and 5 % X-linker—are fabricated into single-edge notched tension specimens and tested at various temperatures. An inverse relationship is observed between crosslinking density and fracture toughness: the softer 2.5 % X-linker SMP consistently demonstrates greater resistance to crack initiation and propagation across all phases. While the Essential Work of Fracture and critical
-integral methods yield comparable results in the transition phase, notable discrepancies are found in the glassy and rubbery phases. Overall, the Essential Work of Fracture method proves to be more robust and computationally efficient, requiring fewer steps and exhibiting lower sensitivity to experimental variability. These findings validate the Essential Work of Fracture approach as a reliable tool for fracture characterization and highlight the critical roles of crosslink density and thermomechanical phase in governing SMP fracture behavior.
APA:
Tshikwand, G.K., Moreno Mateos, M.A., Santarossa, A., & Steinmann, P. (2025). Experimental insights into the thermo-mechanical fracture performance of soft shape memory polymers. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 327, 111439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111439
MLA:
Tshikwand, Georgino Kaleng, et al. "Experimental insights into the thermo-mechanical fracture performance of soft shape memory polymers." Engineering Fracture Mechanics 327 (2025): 111439.
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