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The strength and fracture properties of a polypropylene filled with ultrafine calcium carbonate (0.07 pm) have been studied in the composition range of 0 to 40 percent by volume. Untreated and surface treated (with stearic acid and a titanate coupling agent) grades have been considered. The untreated filler caused a decrease of toughness whereas a maximum, at -10 percent, was observed for the treated filler. The fracture energy was analyzed in terms of the crack pinning model. Due to the very small size of particles the pinning contribution proved to be negligible.

Morphology and mechanical properties of (amine terminated butadiene acrylonitrile rubber/diglycidyl ether of bis-phenol-A epoxy resin) blends of different compositions, cured in wide range of temperatures, are described. Curing at low temperature promoted formation of homogeneous materials with poor fracture resistance. On the contrary, at high temperature tough heterogeneous blends were obtained. Such blends showed phase inversion above 20 percent of rubber. The volume fraction of precipitated phase, determined on SEM micrographs, was higher than the amount of added rubber. A fracture mechanism to account for this is proposed. Extensive voiding and interface damage were observed in the low temperature cured materials. Such phenomena did not contribute to the fracture energy.