A phenomenological criterion for an optical assessment of PE-HD fracture surfaces obtained from FNCT
(2021)
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.
Different imaging techniques were employed to monitor Full Notch Creep Test (FNCT) experiments addressing environmental stress cracking in more detail. The FNCT is a well-established test method to assess slow crack growth and environmental stress cracking of polymer materials, especially polyethylene. The standard test procedure, as specified in ISO 16770, provides a simple comparative measure of the resistance to crack growth of a certain material based on the overall time to failure when loaded with a well-defined mechanical stress and immersed in a liquid medium promoting crack propagation.
Destructive techniques which require a direct view on the free fracture surface, such as light microscopy and laser scanning microscopy, are compared to non-destructive techniques, i.e. scanning acoustic microscopy and xray micro computed tomography. All methods allow the determination of an effective crack length. Based on a series of FNCT specimens progressively damaged for varied Durations under standard test conditions, the estimation of crack propagation rates is also enabled. Despite systematic deviations related to the respective Imaging techniques, this nevertheless provides a valuable tool for the detailed evaluation of the FNCT and its further development.
The damage mechanisms slow crack growth (SCG) and environmental stress cracking (ESC), relevant for PE-HD materials are characterized based on improved full notch creep testing (FNCT) of two selected typical PE-HD materials for container applications. In this context, a distinction of the failure mechanisms as well as a categorization of involved media is suggested. Employing a novel FNCT device, elongation data were obtained in addition to conventional time-to-failure results of stress-dependent as well as temperature-dependent measurements. Changes in failure behavior, as determined by fracture surface analysis based on light microscopy (LM) and laser scanning microscopy (LSM), are correlated with FNCT results and used to introduce an additional possibility for the identification of brittle/ductile fracture behavior.
The full-notch creep test (FNCT) is widely used to characterize the slow crack growth (SCG) behavior of polyolefin materials in “inert” media as well as effects of environmental stress cracking (ESC) in which the medium has decisive influence on damage mechanism and time to failure. The test is of greatest importance for pipe and blow molding types of polyethylene, high density (PE-HD). Usually the full-notch creep test is applied as a standardized testing method (ISO 16770) using a few universal liquid media, such as solutions of Arkopal N 100. In our study, selected relevant polyethylene, high density materials are investigated also in real media – practical formulations as well as representative pure chemicals – and influences of temperature and geometry of specimen and notch are explicitly addressed. Furthermore, the investigations comprise also the environmental stress cracking behavior of polyethylene, high density in media that are sorbed to a significant extent – examples are diesel and biodiesel – based on comparison with samples previously saturated with those media. Thus, also the underlying diffusion controlled sorption process has to be assessed before. The investigations were performed using a full-notch creep testing device with 12 individual sub-stations, each equipped with individual electronic stress and temperature control and continuous online monitoring of the specimen elongation.
The aim of this research is to study the influence of moisture absorption at low moisture contents on the creep behaviour of an epoxy adhesive in steel bonded joints. Single lap joints were manufactured using high strength steel adherends and a two-component epoxy adhesive. The single lap joints were tested at load Levels corresponding to average lap shear stresses of±5%, 15%, 30% and 45% of the dry lap shear strength in both 40 °C air and 40 °C distilled water. Specimens were not pre-aged to be able to analyse the coupled effect of moisture and loading. The test results show that an increase in the load level resulted in an increase in the instantaneous strain and in the creep strain rate. The creep strain of single lap joints loaded in water was generally larger than for the ones loaded in air. For joints loaded in water the creep behaviour was found to be dependent on the moisture concentration in the adhesive. At low moisture percentages creep was suppressed, resulting in a lower instantaneous strain. At higher moisture percentages creep was promoted, resulting in a larger strain rate. The suppression of creep at low moisture percentages is attributed to water molecules bonding to the epoxy macromolecules, resulting in a reduction in molecular mobility and a smaller creep strain. At higher moisture percentages the plasticizing effect of the water dominates, resulting in a larger creep strain. The Maxwell threeelement solid model and Kelvin-Voigt three-element solid model were used to simulate the creep behaviour of the single lap joints loaded in air and water. The models gave good representations of the creep Response across the different load levels in both water and air, they were however unable to give a correct representation of the instantaneous strain of the single lap joints loaded in water. This is attributed to the models being unable to account for the present short-term relaxation process that is dependent on the moisture concentration.
The dataset provided in this repository comprises data obtained from a series of full-notch creep tests (FNCT) performed on selected high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) materials (for further details, see section 1 Materials in this document) in accordance with the corresponding standard ISO 16770.
The FNCT is one of the mechanical testing procedures used to characterize polymer materials with respect to their environmental stress cracking (ESC) behavior. It is widely applied for PE-HD materials, that are predominantly used for pipe and container applications. It is based on the determination of the time to failure for a test specimen under constant mechanical load in a well-defined and temperature controlled liquid environment. The test device used here also allows for continuous monitoring of applied force, specimen elongation and temperature.