Craze initiation in poly(methyl methacrylate) under biaxial stress

Abstract

Criteria for craze initiation in poly(methyl methacrylate) have been investigated under various combined loadings including biaxial tension and torsion‐compression at 65°C in air and at room temperature in a crazing agent, kerosene. Environmental crazes are observed even under torsion‐compression loading when air crazing does not occur, and the stress locus for environmental crazing is very different from that for air crazing. A theoretical model analogous to the Cottrell model in crystal plasticity is proposed. Theoretical crazing loci derived from the model are compared with the experimental results.