TY - CONF A1 - Zaghdoudi, Maha A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Simulation of compression set of epdm o-rings during aging N2 - It is common practice in the application of finite element analysis to model compression set (CS) of elastomers during aging with two different material models according to the two-network theory of Tobolsky. The theory relies on the existence of two networks. The first one represents the original network after vulcanization and is sensitive to chain scission. The second network accounts for the formation of additional crosslinking during aging. Besides the use of user subroutines to describe the two-network model, an element overlay technique is also needed as the full set of both material behaviors did not exist for assignment to a single element. This element overlay technique is valuable for research and developmental purposes but makes extension to industrial usage quite challenging. Our goal is to simulate the CS of elastomers after long-term aging in a commercial finite element software with no need for extra subroutine codes or mesh superposition. Ethylene propylene diene (EPDM) O-rings were aged in a compressed state at 75 °C, 100 °C, 125 °C and 150 °C for up to 183 days. Investigations of the experimental test results were used to identify material models and their parameters to develop a finite element model to simulate CS. The model was implemented in the finite element software ABAQUS/Standard® with a sequential temperature-displacement coupling. Regarding the influence of temperature, the Arrhenius equation is adopted for the time-temperature relationship. The activation energy value that is required for the simulation is firstly determined from shifting the experimental CS results with the time-temperature superposition technique and plotting the shift factors in an Arrhenius diagram. The experiments were compared with the simulation results. Afterwards different activation energies were used in the simulation and discussed. A suitable choice of the activation energy value with regard to the reference temperature and the test temperature is presented. With the chosen activation energies, the match between numerical CS values after long-term aging and the experimental results was improved. T2 - ASME 2022 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference CY - Las Vegas, USA DA - 17.07.2022 KW - Simulation KW - Compression set KW - EPDM KW - Aging PY - 2022 SP - 1 EP - 9 AN - OPUS4-57370 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vega Puga, E. A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Brendelberger, S. A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Sattler, C. T1 - Lifetime prediction and degradation assessment of FKM and FFKM O-rings under high temperature thermo-oxidative ageing N2 - To support the development of solar reactor technologies for hydrogen production, this study investigates the thermo-oxidative degradation mechanisms of fluorinated elastomers and predicts their lifetimes at high temperatures (200–300 ◦C) consistent with the application requirements. An accelerated ageing programme is conducted with FKM and FFKM O-rings and flat samples for up to 21 days. Optical microscopy is used to analyse the exposed seals’ morphological changes, while IR microscopy is utilised to investigate the underlying chemical degradation mechanisms of both elastomers. Findings suggest that FKM’s degradation arises from dehydrofluorination of the polymer, followed by chain scission and backbone cleavage as a result of the oxidation of newly formed C=C double bonds. FFKM’s degradation is primarily associated with chain scission, but there is also indication that post-curing processes may occur during material ageing. Furthermore, hardness, equilibrium compression set (CS), continuous compression stress relaxation (CSR) and leakage rate tests are used to evaluate changes in the mechanical properties and sealing performance of the elastomers. Equilibrium CS data is extrapolated using time-temperature shifts (TTS) and used to derive an end-of-life criterion of 75 % equilibrium CS, which correlates to leakage rates higher than a predetermined threshold. Service lifetime predictions of FKM and FFKM O-rings at several temperatures are performed and a seal operating temperature of 200 ◦C is suggested, which ensures reasonable O-ring replacement intervals of more than half a year in the solar reactor for both considered materials. KW - Fluoroelastomer KW - Perfluoroelastomer KW - Thermo-oxidative ageing KW - Lifetime prediction KW - Compression set PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-630112 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2025.108820 SN - 1873-2348 VL - 147 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier BV CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-63011 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Ageing of elastomeric seals for storage containers N2 - At BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany, it is our responsibility to audit the safety of casks designed for transport and/or storage of radioactive material. With regard to the requirements on long-term safety of the containers, it is necessary to evaluate the service lifetime of the elastomeric seals used in the containers. With ageing, the elastomers will gradually lose their elasticity and their ability for recovery, which might result in a leakage above the allowed level or in a release of radioactivity during an incident. It is important to know the rate of degradation and which property can be used as an practical and easily measurable end-of-lifetime criterion. For this reason, we devised ageing experiments on different kinds of elastomers, namely FKM, EPDM and HNBR. The former two are actually used in containers for radioactive wastes – either as auxiliary seal in casks containing high activity waste, or as main seal in casks for medium or low activity waste. The latter is an often used seal material that is tested for comparative reasons. In our ageing program, these three materials are aged at four different temperatures (75 °C, 100 °C, 125 °C and 150 °C) in order to extrapolate the data to service temperature using a suitable model. They are examined at logarithmic time intervals of several days up to 5 years. The samples are aged in their undeformed O-ring state as well as compressed between flanges with a deformation corresponding to the actual compression during service. Thus we can compare the ageing between relaxed and stressed sample. Additionally, we are ageing samples in flanges that allow leakage rate measurements. Other measurements include monitoring of the recovery force of the seal and the compression set. Furthermore, the samples are examined by thermal and dynamic-mechanical analysis for detecting changes in the glass transition temperature due to crosslinking or chain scission in the material. Besides, hardness is measured as a practical macroscopic indicator. Until now, we have analyzed samples aged up to 100 days. At the highest ageing temperature of 150 °C, the compressed EPDM has already reached a compression set of 95 %, while HNBR and FKM have reached 80 % and 30 %, respectively. Furthermore, HNBR has reached a Shore D hardness of 85, which is an immense increase after the initial value of 80 Shore A. However, when looking at the cross-section of the sample, it was obvious that only a layer of about 1 mm thickness has become so hard, while the inner part remained rubbery. This shows that there has been intense crosslinking mostly near the surface of the HNBR which forms a kind of oxygen diffusion barrier, inhibiting the thermooxidation of the inner part of sample which can retain elastic properties. In EPDM, the oxygen permeability is much greater, which leads to a more homogeneous degradation across the whole sample and thus resulted in a higher compression set. The low compression set of FKM shows the outstanding high-temperature properties of this material. T2 - Annual Meeting on Nuclear Technology 2015 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2015-05-05 KW - Elastomer KW - Rubber KW - Aging KW - Lifetime KW - Seal KW - Cask KW - Compression PY - 2015 SN - 978-3-926956-98-9 SP - 1 EP - 10(?) PB - INFORUM-Verl. u. Verwaltungsges. AN - OPUS4-33782 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Aging of elastomeric seals for storage casks N2 - Elastomeric seals are used in many containers, including casks for radioactive waste. However, like all polymers, elastomers are prone to aging, which leads to a loss of sealing force and the ability for recovery which can ultimately result in leakage. Therefore it is important to be able to define an end-of-lifetime criterion and to judge the lifetime of elastomeric seals. For this reason, we started an aging program on three kinds of rubbers (HNBR, EPDM, FKM), monitoring the change of properties at four different aging temperatures over extended periods up to five years. The measured data is used for lifetime prediction by applying a suitable model. T2 - WM2015 Conference CY - Phoenix, Arizona, USA DA - 15.03.2015 KW - Aging KW - Elastomer KW - Seal KW - Leakage KW - Compression PY - 2015 SN - 978-0-9828171-4-8 SP - 15080, 1 EP - 12 AN - OPUS4-33253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kömmling, Anja T1 - Ageing and lifetime prediction of O-ring seals made of HNBR, EPDM and FKM N2 - BAM is the federal institute for materials research and testing in Germany. One of our tasks is to evaluate the safety of casks designed for transport and/or storage of radioactive waste. As elastomeric seals are used in the containers as safety-relevant parts, it is our goal to be able to evaluate the service lifetime of the seals with regard to the requirements for long-term safety (40 years and more) of the containers. For this reason, an accelerated ageing programme with selected rubbers often used for seals (HNBR, EPDM and FKM) was started. Ageing was performed at four different temperatures (75 °C, 100 °C, 125 °C and 150 °C) for up to 2 years. For assessing properties related to the sealability, O-rings were aged in compression by 25 % (corresponding to the compression during service) between plates. For comparison, uncompressed O-rings were aged as well. The aged materials were characterized with conventional polymer analysis methods such as hardness and tensile tests, but also with more seal-specific methods such as compression stress relaxation (CSR, reflecting the loss of sealing force of a compressed seal over time), and compression set (CS, representing the recovery behaviour of a seal after release from compression). CS is chosen as the property for lifetime prediction as it is both sensitive to degradation and related to the seal performance. CS data is extrapolated to 60 °C, which yields lifetimes of approximately 5 years for HNBR and 64 years for EPDM for a criterion of 85 % CS respectively, and approx. 40 years for FKM for a criterion of 65 % CS (the highest value measured so far). T2 - Kautschuk Herbst Kolloquium / Fall Rubber Colloquium 2016 CY - Hanover, Germany DA - 22.11.2016 KW - Rubber KW - Compression set KW - Extrapolation KW - Leakage PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38480 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -