Fracture behaviour of PC/ABS resin under mixed‐mode loading

Fracture behaviour of polycarbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) under mixed‐mode loading conditions was studied for several weight fractions of PC and ABS. Mode I and mixed‐mode fracture tests were carried out by using compact–tension–shear specimens. At a certain value of mixed‐mode loading ratio K II / K I a crack of the shear type will initiates at the initial crack tip. Fracture toughness increases under mixed‐mode loading with an increase in the mode II component, whereas it reduces with the appearance of a shear‐type fracture. Fracture toughness and the appearance of a shear‐type fracture depends on the blending ratio of PC and ABS. The transition to shear‐type fracture occurs at lower value of K II / K I for resins with higher fracture toughness.