Fracture Mechanism of Short-Fiber-Reinforced AS Composite by Acoustic Emission Technique. Effects of Fiber Content and Comparison with FRABS Composite.

The fracture mechanism of short-fiber-reinforced Acrylonitrile Styrene composite (FRAS) is studied by means of the acoustic emission (AE) technique to examine the effects of fiber content and for comparison with short-fiber-reinforced Acrylonitrile Butagiene styrene composite (FRABS). It is found that the loads of Pb and PC, Pb is a load which the micro-defects connect to grow the crack and Pc is a load which the crack grow the unstable fracture, increase with an increase in the fiber content, and the loads of FRAS are lower than those of FRABS due to the butadiene in the matrix resin. It is also found that a difference between the damage zone sizes and the fractographs appear at the notch tip due to the fiber content. The AE characteristics of FRABS due to the inclusion of butadiene are clarified through comparison with those of FRAS.