Interface effect on the mechanical behaviour of rigid particle filled polymer

Glass beads, non‐modified and modified separately with two different coupling agents, were incorporated in high density polyethylene to prepare composite materials with different interfacial adhesion strengths. Tensile tests show that the mechanical behaviour of the materials is sensitive to the strain rates. The strong interfacial adhesion can delay the occurrence of damage and so increase the load‐bearing ability under both monotonic and cyclic loading. In situ tensile tests give damage mechanisms mainly induced by the interfacial debonding. The stronger the interfacial adhesion, the lower the number of glass beads debonded from the matrix under a given stress. The degree of microdamage defined as the percentage of debonded particles is obtained as a function of the applied load.© 2001 Society of Chemical Industry