Tearing and Delaminating of a Polymer Laminate

The fracture behaviour of laminated materials was studied in this work. The materials used in this work were low-density polyethylene (LDPE) laminated on polyethylene (PET). The thickness of the LDPE was 27 μm and the PET was 100 μm. Experiments were performed by using a 2-leg trousers specimen to analyse the tearing behaviour of the laminate in relation to the delamination. A clear delamination zone was observed during the crack propagation by tearing. Furthermore, a finite element calculation was performed to simulate the behavior around the crack tip during the tearing. A correlation between adhesion and crack propagation was discussed. Finally, the theory of Essential Work of Fracture (EWF) was used for predicting the specific total work of fracture along the tear path across the plastic zones