Mechanical Modeling of Initiation of Localized Yielding Under Plane Stress Conditions in Rigid-Rigid Polymer Alloys

Two-dimensional Finite Element Method simulations, which involve consideration of the nonlinearity of a material, have been conducted to gain understanding about the rigid-rigid polymer toughening concept we proposed. The simulation results for the plane stress condition indicate that as long as the inclusion phase possesses i) a 60% difference in the tangent modulus from that of the matrix at any given strain level prior to failure or ii) smaller yield or craze stain than the yield strain of the matrix, then, localized shear yielding will occur around the inclusion. A toughened rigid-rigid polymer alloy system can then be obtained. The plain strain case is also discussed with an implementation of the rigid-rigid polymer toughening concept.