Micromechanical characterization of composite materials based on poly(styryl pyridine) thermoset resin

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to propose a micromechanical characterization of composite materials through measurement of the work‐hardening rate K in the preyield stage during compression tests at constant strain‐rate. This method belongs to a more general framework where the non‐elastic deformation of glassy polymers is analyzed from a metallurgical point of view. The parameter K varies as the inverse of the nucleation rate of dislocations which are responsible for the non‐elastic deformation. The method is used, here, to characterize a model composite material : PSP resin (poly(styryl pyridine)) filled with glass beads. K measurements show that introducing glass beads in the PSP resin enhances its ability to deform plastically, i.e. the presence of glass beads increases strongly the nucleation rate of dislocations. K‐measurements and scanning electron microscopy investigations seem to show that the coupling agent A1100 is not appropriate to the PSP matrix.