Effect of Temperature on the Adhesive Fracture Behavior of an Elastomer-Epoxy Resin

Abstract
The bulk and adhesive fracture behavior of a diglycidyl ether bisphenol-A epoxy modified with 15% carboxy-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile was determined as a function of temperature. The bulk fracture toughness increased sharply near the resin Tg in a manner similar to unmodified epoxy resins. The adhesive fracture energy exhibited a maximum with respect to bond thickness and this maximum broadened and shifted to larger bond thicknesses with increasing temperature. These results are discussed in terms of the size and stress condition of the crack tip deformation zone.