Nanocavitation around a crack tip in a soft nanocomposite: A scanning microbeam small angle X-ray scattering study

We explore nanocavitation around the crack tip region in a styrene-butadiene random copolymer filled with typical carbon black (CB) particles used in the rubber industry for toughening the rubber. Using quasistatic loading conditions and a highly collimated X-ray microbeam scanned around the crack tip, we demonstrate the existence of a damage zone consisting of nanovoids in a filled elastomer matrix. The existence of voids near the crack tip is...