Deformation behaviour of a polycarbonate plate with a circular hole: finite elements model and experimental observations

Abstract

The unique and complex deformation behaviour of ductile polymers has received considerable attention in the polymer field. Much research has been conducted to study the yielding and post-yielding behaviour of polymers. In the case of two-phase polymer alloy systems, however, the deformation behaviour near the interface between the two phases has rarely been studied. The present paper describes the use of two-dimensional (2-D) finite element methods (FEM) to simulate the deformation behaviour of a polycarbonate plate with a circular hole as a special case of two-phase polymer alloys. The FEM model involves consideration of the non-linear behaviour of the material. The FEM simulation results reveal that the maximum octahedral shear stress ([tau]oct) shifts from the equatorial region toward the 45[deg] region at the interface between the hole and the ductile matrix phase. How far the maximum [tau]oct shifts along the interface depends on the stress concentration near the interface and the strain increment between the yield and the strain hardening regions. The shift in maximum [tau]oct is due to the yield and strain softening character of ductile polymers. These results are verified by polycarbonate/hole (PC/hole) experiments.