Micro-mechanisms of a laminated packaging material during fracture

•Fracture in a thin laminate composed of an aluminium foil and a polyethylene film are considered.•Inspection with SEM of the fracture surfaces shows that fracture occurs through localised plasticity.•Experimental results are examined and analysed using a slipline theory to derive the work of failure.

The micro-mechanisms of fracture in a laminate composed of an aluminium foil and a polymer film are considered in this study. The laminates as well as the individual layers, with and without premade centre-cracks, were tensile tested. Visual inspection of the broken cross-sections shows that failure occurs through localised plasticity. This leads to a decreasing and eventually vanishing cross-section ahead of the crack tip for both the laminate and their single constituent layers. Experimental results are examined and analysed using a slip-line theory to derive the work of failure. An accurate prediction was made for the aluminium foil and for the laminate but not for the freestanding polymer film. The reason seems to be that the polymer material switches to non-localised plastic deformation with significant strain-hardening.