Abstract
The present work deals with an experimental and theoretical study of the tensile properties of meltblown fiber mats at the elastic and plastic stages of deformation up to the ultimate catastrophic failure of material. The meltblown nonwoven mats were subjected to uniaxial loading and their stress-strain dependences were measured using a 100 N capacity Instron machine (model 5942R). This revealed the dependences of Young's modulus and the hardening parameter on strain. These dependences are linked to the micromechanical behavior of individual fibers and fiber-fiber junctions. The proposed theoretical model described the experimental stress-strain dependences accounting for both factors: (i) the strength-hardening related to unraveling of polymer macromolecules in individual fibers, and (ii) opening of microcracks with increasing strain/stress in the fiber-fiber junctions and individual fibers, which results in a decrease in effective elastic moduli. The model is also capable of describing stress-strain dependence of individual fibers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4241-4247 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Polymer |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 16 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 Aug 5 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work was supported by a grant from the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center (NCRC) ( 09-117B ). Help of Dr. M. Hassan in supplying the meltblown samples is acknowledged. Dr. Sandip Basu from Agilent Technologies is greatly appreciated for providing us the data on the stress–strain dependence of a meltblown monofilament.
Keywords
- Meltblown fiber
- Strain hardening
- Tensile strength
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Organic Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Materials Chemistry