A study on influences of interfacial progressive-partial debonding on fracture toughness enhancement of polymer nanocomposites: multiscale finite element analysis

Abstract

A multiscale analysis is performed to observe fracture toughness enhancement of the epoxy-silica nanocomposites when interfacial progressive-partial debonding of nanoparticles occurs. Allegedly, interfacial debonding-induced nanovoid growth is one of the main toughening mechanisms and it consists of two sub-mechanisms – interfacial debonding of nanoparticles and subsequent plastic yielding of matrix. Multiscale framework of both toughening sub-mechanisms considering interfacial progressive-partial debonding (IPPD) of nanoparticles is constructed. To investigate the effects of the toughening mechanisms by confirming the microscopic stress fields of the nanocomposites, finite element (FE) models that include progressive-partial debonding of interfacial area are constructed. An influence of the area with IPPD on the dissipated plastic energy of matrix domain is investigated. This paper provide insights for applying the IPPD phenomenon in analysis on the toughness enhancement of nanocomposites by considering the results of the multiscale analysis model.