TY - JOUR A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Pedragosa-Rincon, M. A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Oehler, H. A1 - Alig, I. A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Environmental Stress Cracking of High-Density Polyethylene Applying Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics N2 - The crack propagation rate of environmental stress cracking was studied on high-density polyethylene compact tension specimens under static loading. Selected environmental liquids are distilled water, 2 wt% aqueous Arkopal N100 solution, and two model liquid mixtures, one based on solvents and one on detergents, representing stress cracking test liquids for commercial crop protection products. The different surface tensions and solubilities, which affect the energetic facilitation of void nucleation and craze development, are studied. Crack growth in surface-active media is strongly accelerated as the solvents induce plasticization, followed by strong blunting significantly retarding both crack initiation and crack propagation. The crack propagation rate for static load as a function of the stress intensity factor within all environments is found to follow the Paris–Erdogan law. Scanning electron micrographs of the fracture surface highlight more pronounced structures with both extensive degrees of plasticization and reduced crack propagation rate, addressing the distinct creep behavior of fibrils. Additionally, the limitations of linear elastic fracture mechanisms for visco-elastic polymers exposed to environmental liquids are discussed. KW - Crack propagation KW - Environmental stress cracking KW - Fracture toughness KW - Crop protection products KW - High-density polyethylene KW - Craze–crack mechanism KW - Linear elastic fracture mechanics KW - Stress intensity factor PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550476 SN - 2073-4360 VL - 14 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 21 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55047 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Alig, I. A1 - Oehler, H. A1 - Brauch, Niels A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Charakterisierung von Behälterwerkstoffen aus Polyethylen N2 - Das langsame Risswachstum (slow crack growth, SCG) sowie der umgebungsbedingte Spannungsriss (environmental stress cracking, ESC) sind relevante Schädigungsmechanismen für teilkristalline Werkstoffe auf Basis von Polyethylen hoher Dichte (PE-HD). Der Vortrag gibt einerseits einen Überblick über die grundlegenden Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen in diesem Kontext, andererseits werden auch verschiedene praxisorientierte Prüfverfahren vorgestellt. Letztere wurden in gemeinsamen Forschungsprojekten von BAM und LBF mit dem Schwerpunkt Gefahrgutbehälter bzw. Pflanzenschutzmittel vergleichend untersucht und durch weitergehende Analytik ergänzt. T2 - 16. Tagung des Arbeitskreises Polymeranalytik Webkonferenz, Fraunhofer LBF und FGK CY - Online meeting DA - 22.03.2022 KW - Polyethylen KW - Full Notch Creep Test KW - Environmental Stress Cracking KW - Spannungsriss PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54547 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Umgebungsbedingter Spannungsriss: Gefahr für Kunststoffbauteile unter Medieneinfluss N2 - Polyethylen hoher Dichte (PE-HD) ist ein weit verbreitetes Material für Transportbehälter, die oft für eine längere Nutzungsdauer vorgesehen sind. Insbesondere in diesem Fall können mikroskopische Schäden im Material auch weit unterhalb der Streckgrenze auftreten, die durch eine Spannungskonzentration verursacht werden, deren Ursprung in intrinsischen Materialfehlern oder äußeren Kratzern liegt. Mit fortschreitender Schädigung bilden sich Rissstrukturen, die von verstreckten Fibrillen aufgespannt werden, bis es zum Versagen dieser Fibrillen kommt und sich der Riss ausbreitet. Dieser Schadensmechanismus des langsamen Risswachstums kann durch eine Vielzahl von Umgebungsmedien beschleunigt werden und wird dann als "environmental stress cracking" (ESC) bezeichnet. Eine international normierte Methode zur Validierung der Spannungsrissbeständigkeit von PE-HD Materialien ist der „Full Notch Creep Test“ (FNCT). Anhand von Bruchflächenauswertungen mittels Rasterelektronenmikroskopie und Laser-Scanning-Mikroskopie, werden die typischen Schädigungsstrukturen des ESC sichtbar. Die fibrillierten Strukturen des ESC auf der Bruchfläche von PE-HD ergeben sich besonders bei oberflächenaktiven wässrigen Umgebungsmedien. In Lösungsmittel-Umgebungsmedien, im Zusammenspiel mit PE-HD, kommt es aufgrund der plastifizierenden Wirkung zur Herabsetzung der Streckspannung und Bruchflächen aus dem FNCT veranschaulichen keine signifikanten Anzeichen des Schädigungsmechanismus ESC. T2 - 47. VDI-Jahrestagung Schadensanalyse 2021- Mediale und klimatische Beanspruchung von polymeren Produkten CY - Würzburg, Germany DA - 06.10.2021 KW - Umgebungsbedingter Spannungsriss KW - Polyethylen hoher Dichte KW - Full Notch Creep Test KW - Lösungsmittel KW - Oberflächenaktive wässrige Medien KW - Bruchflächenauswertung PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53665 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schilling, Markus A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Marschall, Niklas A1 - Alig, I. A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - A phenomenological criterion for an optical assessment of PE-HD fracture surfaces obtained from FNCT N2 - The full-notch creep test (FNCT) is a common test method to evaluate the environmental stress cracking (ESC) behavior of high-density polyethylene (PE-HD), e.g. for 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 PE-HD specimens under constant mechanical load in a well-defined liquid test environment. Since the craze-crack damage mechanism underlying the ESC phenomenon is associated with brittle failure, the occurrence of a predominantly brittle fracture surface is a prerequisite to consider an FNCT measurement as representative for ESC, i.e. a time to failure dominated by craze-crack propagation. The craze-crack propagation continuously reduces the effective residual cross-sectional area of the specimen during the test, which results in a corresponding increase of the effective mechanical stress. Thus, a transition to ductile shear deformation is inevitable at later stages of the test, leading usually to a pronounced central ligament. Therefore, an optical evaluation of FNCT fracture surfaces concerning their brittleness is essential. An enhanced imaging analysis of FNCT fracture surfaces enables a detailed assessment of craze-crack Propagation during ESC. In this study, laser scanning microscopy (LSM) was employed to evaluate whether FNCT fracture surfaces are representative with respect to craze-crack propagation and ESC. Based on LSM height data, a phenomenological criterion is proposed to assess the validity of distinct FNCT measurements. This criterion is supposed to facilitate a quick evaluation of FNCT results in practical routine testing. Its applicability is verified on a sample basis for seven different commercial PE-HD container materials. KW - Environmental stress cracking (ESC) KW - Full notch creep test (FNCT) KW - Laser scanning microscopy (LSM) KW - Fracture surfaces KW - Optical criterion of brittleness PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521012 VL - 94 SP - 107002 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-52101 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Influence of molecular orientation on the environmental stress cracking resistance N2 - Molecular orientation has a significant effect on the material properties of polymers. Preferential orientation of the microstructure (polymer chains or crystallites) in a specific direction or plane often enhances the material properties, especially if the high-strength covalent bonds are primarily exposed to loads instead of the weaker van der Waals bonds. However, the orientation-dependent microstructure and its mechanical behavior is in general already well understood by many scientific studies [1-3]. Isotropic materials are frequently required for an intrinsic material characterization without prevailing processing-induced properties, as is the case for Full Notch Creep Test (FNCT) [4] addressing environmental stress cracking (ESC) in high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) [5, 6]. Since ESC is one of the major limiting issues for long-term performance of PE-HD pipes and containers [7], which in contrast have a production-related preferential orientated microstructure due to extrusion or extrusion blow molding, it is important to additionally investigate the ESC resistance of such anisotropic microstructure. Investigations of the slow crack growth (SCG) with respect to the molecular orientation generally obtain a factor of 1.2 up to 4.7 between crack growth perpendicular to the extrusion direction and crack growth parallel to the extrusion direction 8. Based on FNCT investigations with an aqueous detergent solution as environmental medium, hot pressed sheets with isotropic morphology are compared with extruded sheets from which specimens with different orientation angles are taken. However, the time to failure obtained by FNCT is also significantly influenced by the different cooling conditions under which the final morphology is formed. The tendency of the specimen to fail due to ESC is investigated as a function of environmental medium temperature. For a more detailed analysis of the affecting parameters in the manufacturing process, the ESC resistance is discussed considering the differences in crystallinity as revealed by thermal analysis. T2 - 36th International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 26.09.2021 KW - Environmental stress cracking KW - Orientation-dependent microstructure KW - High-density polyethylene KW - Full Notch Creep Test PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53399 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Damage progression of environmental stress cracking affected by manufacturing process-induced microstructural orientation N2 - Currently, the Full Notch Creep Test (FNCT) [1] method is used by material suppliers and end users in industry for the approval of container and pipe materials based on high-density polyethylene (PE-HD). The resistance to environmental stress cracking (ESC) of the material is evaluated using the time to failure of the specimen in an aqueous solution of a detergent [2, 3]. Usually specimens made of sheets with isotropic material properties, manufactured by hot pressing, are employed in order to obtain intrinsic properties of the material in terms of ESC failure. In contrast, the processes used in manufacturing to form containers and pipes, such as extrusion blow molding or extrusion, impose anisotropic properties to the material. These are mostly due to a microstructural orientation (polymer chains or crystallites) [4]. Furthermore, the different cooling conditions significantly affect the size distribution of crystallites as well as the overall morphology. It is therefore essential to understand the influence of process-induced material characteristics on failure due to ESC. A large number of studies on material properties as a function of microstructural preferential orientation have already been conducted [5-7]. However, effects on ESC as the major failure mechanism of containers and pipes are still rather unexplored [8, 9]. The most important factor is whether primarily intramolecular high-strength covalent bonds or the substantially weaker intermolecular van der Waals forces are predominantly loaded. In addition to the widely established classification by time to failure, the strain or crack opening displacement (COD) provides valuable information about the evolution and progression of damage as a function of time [10, 11]. Optical strain measurement using digital image correlation allows the differences in COD for isotropic and different angles of orientation of anisotropic specimens to be discussed. Also, a post-fracture surface analysis provides clarification on the craze-crack mechanism of the ESC. These different ESC-related properties of extruded and hot-pressed specimens have been investigated at different environmental medium temperatures and different initial stresses to provide a broad characterization of the fracture behavior of PE-HD. T2 - 36th International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 26.09.2021 KW - Environmental stress cracking KW - High-density polyethylene KW - Fracture behavior KW - Microstructural orientation PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53400 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schilling, Markus A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Umgebungsinduzierte Spannungsrissbildung (ESC) von PE-HD induziert durch äußerliche Einwirkung organischer Flüssigkeiten 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 insbesondere das Verständnis des Schädigungsmechanismus des langsamen, umgebungsbedingten Spannungsrisses (engl.: „environmental stress cracking“, ESC) essentiell. ESC tritt bei relativ geringen auf einen Werkstoff einwirkenden mechanischen Spannungen auf. An lokalen Fehlstellen (z.B. Defekte, Inhomogenitäten, Kerben) beginnend wächst ein Riss langsam durch das Material und führt nach gewisser Zeit zu einem charakteristischen, pseudo-spröden Bruch. Dabei wird das Risswachstum durch äußere Medieneinwirkung zusätzlich entscheidend beeinflusst. Dieses langsame Risswachstum wird als Hauptursache für das plötzliche und unerwartete Versagen von Polymerwerkstoffen angesehen. Eine etablierte Prüfmethode zur Bewertung des Materialverhaltens gegenüber dieses Schädigungsmechanismus ist der Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT), der für PE-HD Behältermaterialien üblicherweise unter Verwendung von wässrigen Netzmittellösungen (Arkopal N 100) durchgeführt wird. Die aus dem FNCT erhaltene Standzeit dient dabei als Bewertungskriterium für verschiedene PE-HD-Werkstoffe. In einer Studie wurden neben einer typischen Arkopal-N-100-Netzmittellösung praktisch relevante, organische Flüssigkeiten wie Biodiesel und Diesel als Testmedien verwendet, um deren Einfluss auf das ESC-Verhalten von PE-HD-Behältermaterialien zu charakterisieren. Neben der klassischen Standzeit-Auswertung erfolgte eine erweiterte Bruchflächenanalyse mittels Licht- (LM), Laserscanning- (LSM) und Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (REM). Insbesondere die LSM erlaubt eine schnelle und einfache Unterscheidung pseudo-spröder und duktiler Bruchbilder, die zur Beurteilung der Repräsentativität des FNCT für das dem Spannungsriss zugrundeliegenden langsamen Risswachstum von Bedeutung ist. T2 - Polymer Service GmbH Merseburg - "Lebensdauerabschätzung von Polymerwerkstoffen - Möglichkeiten und Grenzen" CY - Merseburg, Germany DA - 27.03.2019 KW - Environmental Stress Cracking (ESC) KW - Slow Crack Growth (SCG) KW - Spannungsriss KW - Polyethylen hoher Dichte KW - Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) KW - Bruchflächenanalyse KW - Laserscanningmikroskopie (LSM) PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-52947 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aristia, Gabriela A1 - Bäßler, Ralph A1 - Nofz, Marianne A1 - Sojref, Regine A1 - Kohl, Anka T1 - Short-term exposure tests of ɣ-Al2O3 Sol-gel coating on X20Cr13 in artificial geothermal waters with different pH N2 - The suitability of an Al2O3 coating for corrosion protection on X20Cr13 was evaluated in various artificial geothermal brines, focusing on the influence of different pH (4, 6 and 8) and their chemical compositions on the coating properties. All experiments were performed in the laboratory using autoclaves at 150 ◦C and 1 MPa in deaerated condition for 1 and 7 days. Results showed that the pH of geothermal waters is the most detrimental factor in the transformation of ɣ-Al2O3 and its protective abilities. Delaminations were found in the Coating exposed to geothermal brines with pH 4. FTIR spectra indicated a transformation of ɣ-Al2O3 to boehmite AlOOH after exposure to pH 4 and 6, and bayerite Al(OH)3 was formed after exposure to pH 8. Different Crystal structures of the hydrated Al2O3 also contribute to the stability of the coatings, observed by the SEM- EDX of the surface and cross-section of coatings. This study indicated that ɣ-Al2O3 sol-gel coating presents a promising aspect of corrosion protection in geothermal environment with a neutral pH. KW - Al2O3 KW - Corrosion KW - Coating KW - Martensitic steel PY - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2021.102193 SN - 0375-6505 VL - 96 SP - 102193 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-52931 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thuy, Maximilian A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Oehler, H. A1 - Alig, I. A1 - Böhning, Martin T1 - Evaluation of the damaging effect of crop protection formulations on high density polyethylene using the Full Notch Creep Test N2 - Four typical high-density polyethylene container materials were used to investigate damage or stress cracking behavior in contact with model liquids for crop protection products. These model liquids are established in German regulations for the approval of dangerous goods containers and consist of typical admixtures used for crop protection products but without biological active ingredients. This study is performed with the standardized method of Full Notch Creep Test, adapting the media temperature to 40 °C according to the usual conditions where these test liquids are applied. The two model liquids differ into a water-based solution and a composition based on different organic solvents which are absorbed by the material up to significant levels. Therefore, extensive sorption measurements are performed. The fracture surfaces obtained are analyzed in detail not only by light microscopy, but also by laser scanning microscopy as well as scanning electron microscopy. Influence of pre-saturation and applied stress are addressed by respective systematic series of experiments. KW - Polyethylene KW - Full Notch Creep Test KW - Environmental Stress Cracking KW - Fracture PY - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2021.123853 SN - 0032-3861 VL - 228 SP - 123853 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-52686 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maximilian, Thuy A1 - Spyrantis, Alexander A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Niebergall, Ute A1 - Maaß, Robert T1 - Spatially resolved roughness exponent in polymer fracture N2 - The fracture surface of slow and continuous crack propagation during environmental stress cracking of a semicrystalline polyethylene exhibits isotropic roughness exponents at the local scale but resolved across the macroscopic fracture surface a clear position dependence is found. The spatially resolved roughness exponent admits values in the range between 0.1 and 0.4, demonstrating nontrivial exponents in the small length-scale regime. Instead, they vary across the fracture surface according to the stress-state distribution, which suggests that the exponents are intimately linked to the locally dominating dissipation processes during craze cracking. KW - Plasticity KW - Fracture KW - Material failure KW - Mechanical deformation PY - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.6.L090601 VL - 6 IS - 9 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - American Physical Society CY - USA, Maryland AN - OPUS4-55797 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -