5 Werkstofftechnik
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- Environmental stress cracking (ESC) (2)
- Brittle / ductile fracture behavior (1)
- Brittle fracture (1)
- Crack propagation analysis (1)
- Diesel (1)
- Environmental stress cracking (1)
- Fracture surface analysis (1)
- Full Notch Creep Test (1)
- Full Notch Creep Test (FNCT) (1)
- Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) (1)
- HDPE Sorption (1)
- High-density polyethylene (1)
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- Optical criterion (1)
- Orientation-dependent microstructure (1)
- PE-HD (1)
- Polyethylene, PE-HD (1)
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- Röntgenrefraktion (1)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
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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.
As the well-known damage mechanisms slow crack growth (SCG) and environmental stress cracking (ESC) are the major causes for possible failure of polyolefin-based materials, especially for PE-HD, they are highly relevant and need to be considered thoroughly. Furthermore, due to slight but perceptible differences in damaging effect, a differentiation between SCG and ESC is expedient. SCG appears in “inert” or “neutral” media without a decisive influence of the surrounding medium whereas ESC occurs in “active” media, which influence the failure behavior and time to failure crucially.
To characterize the inherent resistance of the material against those damage mechanisms, the well-established Full-Notch Creep Test (FNCT) is used. In this study, the FNCT – usually applied according to ISO 16770 [3] using a few universal model liquid media and mainly for pipe materials – is extended by investigations with appropriate parameters of selected relevant PE-HD container materials also in real media, such as the topical fuels diesel and biodiesel. The investigations were performed using a novel FNCT-device with 12 individual sub-stations, each equipped with individual electronic stress and temperature control and continuous online monitoring of the specimen elongation.
Especially, mechanical stress and temperature were varied systematically during FNCT and time to failure values, time-dependent elongation data as well as detailed fracture surface analysis by laser scanning microscopy (LSM) were combined for the first time (Fig. 1). Particularly, the fracture surface analysis provides a sound basis to characterize failure behavior, mainly regarding the balance between brittle crack propagation and ductile deformation. Therefore, fracture surface analysis is an essential tool for a decent assessment of SCG and ESC by FNCT measurements.
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.
Behälter aus hochdichtem Polyethylen (PE-HD) werden zur Lagerung und für den Transport von Kraftstoffen eingesetzt. Beim Kontakt beider Medien diffundiert der Kraftstoff in das Polymer, erhöht dessen Volumen und Duktilität und ändert damit das Fließverhalten des Polymers unter Zugbelastung. Zudem weist PE-HD in Luft im verstreckten Bereich das sogenannte strain-whitening (Lichtstreuung) auf, während in Diesel gelagertes PE-HD optisch transparent wird. Zur Untersuchung dieses Phänomens wurden ortsaufgelöste Röntgenrefraktion und –diffraktion (Topographie) eingesetzt. Aus Sicht der molekularen Struktur (Diffraktion) weisen die beiden Probentypen keine Unterschiede auf: im verstreckten Bereich liegt eine „Fasertextur“ der Polymerketten in Belastungsrichtung vor, im unverstreckten Bereich nahezu ideale Isotropie. Die für mikroskopische Strukturen empfindliche Röntgenrefraktion zeigt außerdem für die Probe in Luft im verstreckten Bereich eine ausgeprägte Orientierung von Grenzflächen in Zugrichtung, während die in Diesel gelagerte Probe keine Grenzflächen zeigt. In Analogie zum optischen Verhalten bewirken die ähnlichen Brechungsindizes beider Medien im Röntgenbereich, dass eindiffundierter Diesel als Immersionsflüssigkeit die Brechungseigenschaften herabsetzt.