Influence of substrate and interfacial adhesion on the scratch resistance of poly(methylmethacrylate)

Abstract

The influence of the substrate material and adhesion of the interface on the scratch resistance of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) in a multilayer system was explored using scratch tests and finite-element analysis. Experimental results showed that the influence of the substrate material on the scratch resistance of PMMA was not significant if the top layer was a PMMA bulk material. If the top layer was a PMMA film, a hard substrate (such as steel) reduced its scratch resistance and puncture occurred after material removal. Compared with a two-layer PMMA/PMMA system (without glue), the critical loads for scratch damage to a PMMA/glue/PMMA system were reduced under linearly increasing normal load scratch tests. Puncture was not found after material removal in the PMMA/glue/PMMA system. This study provides significance for design of scratch-resistant multilayer polymer systems.

Keywords

• PMMA
• Multilayer system
• Scratch resistance
• Substrate
• Interfacial condition