Improvement of interfaces by tethered polymer chains. Part I: evaluation of the interface in a single-fiber composite at low and high strain rates

A study of the effect of tethered chains on the fiber-matrix interface in a single-fiber composite at low and high strain rates was conducted. The materials system studied was composed of glass fiber, polysulfone matrix, and polysulfone tethered chains. Single fiber fragmentation tests demonstrated that the tethered chains were beneficial to the interface not only at a typical low strain rate, but also under impact at an estimated strain rate >2000 times higher. It is believed that the tethered chains, by entangling with the matrix chains, provide energy dissipation mechanisms that operate over a wide range of time scales to improve the performance of the interface.