TY - CONF A1 - Schilling, Markus A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Addressing ESC using FNCT enhanced by optical fracture surface analysis N2 - During their lifetime, polymer components subjected to mechanical loads and environmental influences show a loss of their mechanical properties required for their specific applications. In this respect, the craze-crack damage mechanism slow crack growth (SCG) is relevant for PE-HD components used in high-performance applications such as pipes and containers for the storage and transport of dangerous goods. SCG is considered to be the major failure mechanism in polyolefins and it typically occurs suddenly and unexpectedly. Due to the fields of application, SCG is a safety relevant issue. To test for the resistance of PE-HD pipe and container materials against SCG, the full-notch creep test (FNCT) is widely applied in Europe. In this study, SCG phenomena in PE-HD are investigated in detail based on an improved FNCT, especially including the consideration of the influence of environmental liquids effecting the damage mechanism. Using an enhanced fracture surface and a crack propagation analysis with imaging techniques such as light microscopy (LM), laser scanning microscopy (LSM), X-ray computed tomography (CT-scan) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), detailed data concerning SCG are obtained. The combined application of FNCT and such imaging techniques is explicitly advantageous and recommended to gain important information on damage occurring to PE-HD induced by mechanical stress and the influence of environmental liquids, which is essential within the Fourth Industry Revolution. T2 - PPS Europe-Africa 2019 Regional Conference (PPS 2019) CY - Pretoria, South Africa DA - 18.11.2019 KW - Polyethylene, PE-HD KW - Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) KW - Fracture surface analysis KW - Slow crack growth KW - Environmental stress cracking KW - Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSM) KW - Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50939 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schilling, Markus A1 - Marschall, Niklas A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - An optical criterion for the assessment of Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) fracture surfaces N2 - The full-notch creep test (FNCT) is a common method to evaluate the environmental stress cracking (ESC) behavior of high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) container materials . The test procedure as specified in ISO 16770 provides a comparative measure of the resistance against ESC using the time to failure of specimens mechanically loaded in a well-defined liquid environment. Since the craze-crack damage mechanism underlying the ESC process is associated with brittle failure, the occurrence of globally brittle fracture surfaces is a prerequisite to consider an FNCT measurement as representative for ESC . Therefore, an optical evaluation of FNCT fracture surfaces concerning their brittleness is essential. Due to the experimental setup, an inevitable increase of the true mechanical stress and the associated appearance of small ductile parts on fracture surfaces is induced in any case. Hence, an FNCT experiment is considered as 'valid', if the corresponding fracture surface is predominantly brittle . Based on laser scanning microscopy (LSM) height data of FNCT fracture surfaces , a universal and easy-to-use phenomenological criterion was developed to assess the validity of distinct FNCT experiments. This criterion is supposed to facilitate a quick evaluation of FNCT results in practical routine testing. T2 - PPS Europe-Africa 2019 Regional Conference (PPS 2019) CY - Pretoria, South Africa DA - 18.11.2019 KW - Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) KW - Polyethylene, PE-HD KW - Fracture surface analysis KW - Environmental stress cracking (ESC) KW - Optical criterion KW - Brittle fracture PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50940 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - THES A1 - Schilling, Markus T1 - Environmental Stress Cracking (ESC) and Slow Crack Growth (SCG) of PE-HD induced by external fluids N2 - High-density polyethylene (PE-HD) is widely used as a packaging material. Typical applications are pipes and containers for storage and transport of dangerous goods. For these applications, the understanding of the craze-crack damage mechanisms slow crack growth (SCG) and environmental stress cracking (ESC) is of importance. Since these mechanisms are considered to be the major causes of failure, their understanding is essential for inspection and release of those materials. A well-established test method for the assessment of these damage mechanisms is the full-notch creep test (FNCT). It is used in this study for a detailed investigation of crack propagation phenomena in PE-HD container materials under the influence of different fluids such as air, water and aqueous detergent solutions (Arkopal N 100) as well as biodiesel and diesel. Based on the results of the FNCT, a classification scheme of different fluids is proposed, which allows for an assignment of the respective damage mechanisms. Hereby, it is differentiated between (i) inert, (ii) purely surface-active and (iii) additionally sorptive, bulk-active fluids with respect to SCG. If the test fluid changes the intrinsic properties (at the surface or in the bulk), the damage mechanism is addressed to ESC behavior. In FNCT investigations, stress, temperature and specimen geometry were varied systematically. In addition to the time to failure as common measure for the resistance of a PE-HD type against crack propagation, specimen elongation was considered in detail. Several imaging techniques were applied for fracture surface analysis of specimens tested in FNCT to gain novel information on SCG and ESC behavior. From height profiles obtained by laser scanning microscopy (LSM) and information on surface structures from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), indicators for the differentiation of the crack propagation mechanisms could be derived. Based on the LSM data, an algorithm for the distinction between ductile shear deformation and brittle crack growth as dominating failure mechanism was developed. Imaging techniques were also used for determination of crack propagation rates, which were related to time-resolved FNCT elongation data. From the time-resolved determination of crack lengths of partly damaged FNCT specimens, an increasing length of craze zone with a progressively propagating crack was revealed for the first time. This relation of crack and craze zones was specified by fracture mechanical considerations. N2 - Polyethylen hoher Dichte (PE-HD) wird als Werkstoff für Rohre und Behälter für den Transport und zur Lagerung von Gefahrgütern verwendet. Für die Beurteilung und technische Freigabe dieser Materialien ist das Verständnis der beiden Schädigungsmechanismen „langsames Risswachstum“ (engl.: „slow crack growth“, SCG) und „umgebungsbedingter Spannungsriss“ (engl.: „environmental stress cracking“, ESC) essentiell. Eine etablierte Prüfmethode zur Bewertung dieser Schädigungsmechanismen ist der Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT), der in dieser Arbeit zur systematischen Untersuchung des Risswachstums in PE-HD Behältermaterialien unter Einwirkung von Luft, Wasser und wässrigen Netzmittellösungen (Arkopal N 100) sowie Biodiesel und Diesel verwendet wird. Aus den Ergebnissen des FNCT wird ein Klassifikationsschema für Fluide vorgeschlagen, welches ebenfalls eine Zuordnung zu den Schädigungsmechanismen erlaubt. Hierbei wird in (i) inerte, (ii) rein oberflächen-aktive und (iii) zusätzliche sorptive, volumen-aktive Fluide hinsichtlich des langsamen Risswachstums (SCG) unterschieden. Wenn ein Fluid lokal die intrinsischen Materialeigenschaften des Polymers verändert, wird der Schädigungsmechanismus dem umgebungsbedingten Spannungsriss (ESC) zugeordnet. Bei den FNCT-Untersuchungen wurden die mechanische Spannung, die Temperatur und die Prüfkörpergeometrie systematisch variiert. Zusätzlich zur Standzeit wurde die Prüfkörperdehnung zeitabhängig erfasst. Aus einer erweiterten Bruchflächenanalyse konnten neuartige Informationen über SCG und ESC erhalten werden. Hierzu wurden verschiedene Bildgebungsverfahren verwendet. Insbesondere wurden mit Laserscanningmikroskopie (LSM) Höhenprofile und mit Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (REM) Oberflächeninformationen zur Charakterisierung der Rissfortschrittsmechanismen erhalten. Auf Basis der LSM wurde unter Zuhilfenahme von Höhenprofildaten ein Algorithmus zur Unterscheidung zwischen duktiler Scherverformung und sprödem Risswachstum als dominierende Schädigungsmechanismen entwickelt. Die aus den bildgebenden Verfahren ermittelten Rissfortschrittsraten konnten mit den Daten der während des FNCT erfassten Dehnung der Prüfkörper in Beziehung gesetzt werden. Weiterhin wurde mithilfe von zeitaufgelösten Risslängendaten erstmals eine direkte Korrelation der Risslänge zu vorgeschädigten, fibrillierten Bereichen (Crazes) im PE-HD Prüfkörper während des FNCT nachgewiesen. Demnach vergrößert sich die Craze-Länge linear mit zunehmender Risslänge. Dieser Zusammenhang zwischen Riss- und Craze-Längen wurde auf mathematisch, bruchmechanischer Grundlage bestätigt. KW - High-density polyethylene (PE-HD) KW - Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) KW - Slow crack growth (SCG) KW - Environmental Stress Cracking (ESC) KW - Biodiesel KW - Diesel KW - Crack propagation analysis KW - Fracture Surface Analysis KW - Test Improvement KW - Imaging PY - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-115443 SP - 1 EP - 212 CY - Darmstadt AN - OPUS4-50941 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -