Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026

The Effect of Construction and Demolition Waste Plastic Fractions on Wood-Polymer Composite Properties
Published on: June 7, 2020
New universality class for the fragmentation of plastic materials
1Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Debrecen, P. O. Box:5, H-4010 Debrecen, Hungary.
Abstract:
We present an experimental and theoretical study of the fragmentation of polymeric materials by impacting polypropylene particles of spherical shape against a hard wall. Experiments reveal a power law mass distribution of fragments with an exponent close to 1.2, which is significantly different from the known exponents of three-dimensional bulk materials. A 3D discrete element model is introduced which reproduces both the large permanent deformation of the polymer during impact and the novel value of the mass distribution exponent. We demonstrate that the dominance of shear in the crack formation and the plastic response of the material are the key features which give rise to the emergence of the novel universality class of fragmentation phenomena.
Related Concept Videos
Plasticity
Plastic Deformations
Plastic Deformations
Plastic Deformations of Members with a Single Plane of Symmetry
Classification and Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Polymers
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...

