An investigation on mechanical properties of anisotropic polymer solids is important not only for establishing the criteria for initiation of crazing and yielding, but also for solving practical problems. In this paper, as the first step of the strength study on anisotropic polymer solids, creep fracture of rolled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plates has been investigated.
The results showed that (1) the creep fracture is very sensitive to the orientation of specimen, or the angle between the specimen axis and the rolling direction, and (2) several kinds of distinctive marks which correspond to the fracture modes, i.e., delayed, ductile and brittle ones, are observable on the fracture surfaces. Their formation processes are also schematically illustrated.
