Toughening of polymers

In toughening approaches used in polymers it is often assumed that incorporation of compliant rubbery particles, which in isolation can result in much 

An additional form of very effective plasticization can be made to occur in crazable glassy polymers by the pre-packaging throughout the volume of small concentrations of diluents that act effectively as plasticization agents, by wetting craze borders where plasticity is concentrated, without affecting other parts of the matrix by impairing transparency or stiffness. 

We discuss examples of these quite effective practices. For more widespread industrial practices of toughening procedures we refer the reader to well-established sources such as Bucknall (1977). 

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Bragaw, C. C., The Theory of Rubber Toughening of Polymers, Advan. 

Acknowledgements The researches on toughening of polymers of the authors have been supported primarily by NSF/MRL through the M.I.T. Center for Materials... 

The effect of particle size on the toughening of polymers has been studied by a number of investigators. Some of the more prominent explanations have been reviewed by Piorkowska et al. (1990). There is general agreement that compliant particles of less than a critical size are ineffective in craze initiation (Bucknall 1977 Kramer 1983), but that size alone is not a deciding factor and that particle morphology and stiffness, as well as the level of the applied stress, are also important. 

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