Fracture behaviour of isotactic polypropylene under static loading condition

The fracture mechanism of isotactic polypropylene has been studied by three- and four-point bending tests. The result of three-point bending test shows that a wide spread damage zone is present in front of the notch. Looking in more detail via cross-polarised light shows the evidence of birefringence in the stress-whitened zone. Increasing the applied load causes it to spread out the stress-whitened zone. Then the craze-like features are nucleated inside the stress-whitened region. The result of four-point bending test shows that craze-like damage appears in front of pre-crack and its propagation is dictated by spherulite microstructure.