skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Saruwatari, Yoshiyuki"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract Soft fiber‐reinforced polymers (FRPs), consisting of rubbery matrices and rigid fabrics, are widely utilized in industry because they possess high specific strength in tension while allowing flexural deformation under bending or twisting. Nevertheless, existing soft FRPs are relatively weak against crack propagation due to interfacial delamination, which substantially increases their risk of failure during use. In this work, a class of soft FRPs that possess high specific strength while simultaneously showing extraordinary crack resistance are developed. The strategy is to synthesize tough viscoelastic matrices from acrylate monomers in the presence of woven fabrics, which generates soft composites with a strong interface and interlocking structure. Such composites exhibit fracture energy,Γ, of up to 2500 kJ m−2, exceeding the toughest existing materials. Experimental elucidation shows that the fracture energy obeys a simple relation,Γ = W · lT, whereWis the volume‐weighted average of work of extension at fracture of the two components andlTis the force transfer length that scales with the square root of fiber/matrix modulus ratio. SuperiorΓis achieved through a combination of extraordinarily largelT(10–100 mm), resulting from the extremely high fiber/matrix modulus ratios (104–105), and the maximized energy dissipation density,W. The elucidated quantitative relationship provides guidance toward the design of extremely tough soft composites. 
    more » « less