The Consequences Of Ductile-to-brittle Transitions In Plastics

Thermoplastic resins are utilized in many applications because of their unique property set, including their ductile response to applied stress. In .. Read more spite of that inherent ductility, most plastic components fail through one of the many brittle fracture modes. Experience through conducting thousands of plastic component failure analyses has shown that less than 5% were associated with ductile overload. The remainder represent brittle fractures of normally ductile materials. Thus, within evaluations of plastic component failures, the focus of the investigation frequently turns to identifying the nature of the ductile to brittle transition. This relatively brittle response to stress is evident through the examination and characterization of the fracture surface morphology. There are numerous factors, associated with material, processing, design, and service conditions that influence a ductile-to-brittle transition within plastic materials.