Abstract
Epoxy resin is widely used for engineering components as adhesive and matrix materials due to its prior properties. However, pure epoxy resin is brittle. To improve the fracture toughness of the epoxy resin, rubber particles are mixed with epoxy resin. In this study, we measured the fracture toughness of unmodified epoxy resin and rubber-modified epoxy resin using single-edged notch bending specimens. The microstructure in damage zone was investigated, employing transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The distributions of strain around a crack tip were measured using a micro-video-scope and the digital image correlation method (DICM). The measured distribution of strain was compared with that estimated using the finite element method (FEM) in conjunction with Gurson’s model, which can well describe the yielding of porous materials such as rubber-modified epoxy resin. The measured distribution of strain around a crack tip was similar to that obtained by the three dimensional FEM with Gurson’s model.
