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FAILURE IN POLYMERS
DR AZURA A.RASHID
Room 2.19
School of Materials And Mineral Resources
Engineering,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal,
P. Pinang
Malaysia
Importance
Importanceof
ofmechanical
mechanicalproperties
propertiesof
ofmaterials
materials
in
inengineering
engineering
The physical nature of the material has to ensure that the component
can survive in service.
Modulus-to-density ratio
Property-to-cost ratio
design for stiffness and strength where low overall price is important
example: childrens toys, non-critical parts of home appliances
Fundamental
Fundamentalconcepts
conceptsfor
formechanical
mechanicalproperties
properties
Stress
Strength
Strain
Stress-strain relationships
Modulus
Concept of deformation:
Unloaded
Cut (Simple
shear)
Stretched
(Tension)
Squeezed
(Compression)
Twisted
(Torsional shear)
Rectangular specimens
subjected to different loads
in tensile mode
Stress
Stress
Stress is the force exerted on a body per unit cross sectional area.
By stretching a body using a force (the force is weight), the tensile stress (in the
direction of elongation)
If the force applied is 100 N (Newtons), and the cross sectional area measures 0.0004
m2 (square metres), the stress becomes
or 250 KN/m2, or 0.25 MN/m2. If the force doubles (200 N), stress will increase accordingly to 500
kN/m2.
We could also double the level of stress by reducing the cross sectional area to half of its original
value, i.e. to 0.0002 m2.
This relates to the force which distorts rather than extends a body
example where a solid section is sheared,
Strength
Strength
Strain
Strain
Stress-strain
Stress-strainrelationship
relationship((below
belowfailure
failureconditions)
conditions)
Materials deform
inelastically.
elastically
or
be
increased
or
always
For ductile materials increasing the stress above a certain limit will
give rise to inelastic deformations, known as yielding.
when the stress is removed the strain does not return to zero (and the
original shape is not fully restored)
The stress level at which this occurs is referred to as the yield stress
or yield point.
Modulus
Modulus
The relationship between stress and strain is expressed in terms of a property called the
Modulus (or Young Modulus).
The linear portion of the stress-strain curve can be used to determine the modulus
correspond to the slope of the curve before the yield point, up to which all deformation is
elastic and recoverable.
In other words,
The slope (modulus) at any point in the linear portion of the line gives the same
result.
The modulus denotes stiffness or rigidity for any kind of applied load, i.e. tension,
compression or shear.
Stiff materials have a high modulus the deformation (strain) resulting from the applied force
(stress) is low.
Flexible materials have a low modulus undergo large deformations with relatively low
applied forces.
Assessment
Assessment of
of mechanical
mechanical properties
properties
properties
Flexural properties
Impact strength
Tensile
Tensileproperties
properties
The type defined in the ASTM D-638 standard is as shown in the diagram
below:
The pulling is normally carried out at a constant rate of 0.50, 5.0 and 50
cm/min, depending on the type of plastic being tested.
Calculated entities:
*** Note that in the diagram above yield stress is only specified for the ductile material
as the brittle material fails catastrophically without reaching the yielding conditions.
Flexural
Flexural properties
properties
Flexural test
experimental set-up
Specimen dimensions may vary but the use of bars with a cross section
measuring 1.27 0.32 cm and span of 5.0 cm.
Calculated entities:
where:
S = stress (N/m2)
F = load or force at break or
at yield (N)
L = span of specimen
between supports (m)
b = width (m)
d = thickness (m)
where:
e = strain (dimensionless i.e.,
no units)
D = deflection at the centre of
the beam (m) see
schematic below
d = thickness (m)
L = specimens length of span
between supports (m)
Impact
Impact strength
strength
The energy used by the pendulum hammer to fracture the specimen (see
diagram) is given by the reduction in the height of the hammer in its swing
after fracturing the specimen
Where:
m = mass of pendulum hammer
g = acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2)
ho = initial height of pendulum hammer (m)
hf = height of the pendulum hammer after fracturing specimen
Note: Because the distance from the notch tip to the edge of the specimen
is constant, sometimes the impact strength is expressed as the energy to
fracture per unit thickness.
Deformation
Deformation of
of polymers
polymers
Yielding
Yieldingof
ofpolymers
polymers
Yielding is a phenomenon closely related to the onset of permanent deformation, i.e. an irreversible
process.
This is due to molecular chains unfolding and becoming aligned in the direction of the applied load.
This helps the neck propagate along the waist of the specimen under
a steady load a process known as cold drawing
In a crystalline polymer
Points to note:
Yielding is a
phenomenon which is
responsible for ductile
deformations,
as opposed to brittle
fracture.
Variable
Change
Typical
effect on
ductility
Temperature
Strain rate
Molecular
weight
Chain
branching
Crystallinity
Crosslinking
Particulate
fillers
Fibrous
reinforcement
If the temperature is sufficiently high and/or the strain rate is slow enough
Under extreme strain rates, as under impact conditions specimen may be unable to
undergo cold drawing and become brittle
Highly crosslinked polymers (thermosets) are typically brittle materials since chain
movement is severely restricted, they do not usually yield, but fail in a brittle manner .
Hardness,
Hardness, Friction
Friction &
& Wear
Wear
but they are very important in applications that involve sliding contact and
frictional motions.
Hardness
Friction
Wear
Hardness
Hardness
Standardized techniques to
measure hardness based on
the degree of penetration into a
specimen by hard indenters of
conical or spherical shape.
Friction
Friction
Friction is the resistance offered by a surface to the relative motion of objects in contact.
Friction arises from temporary adhesive contacts between the two surfaces
Compressive yield strength & shear strength of the contacting materials are important in friction
abrasion.
The friction performance of polymers varies extensively, the value of m ranging from 0.2
to 0.7 and increasing surface roughness tends to increase friction.
Wear
Wear
Wear occurs when material is lost from the interface between the contact surfaces
during relative motion.
Since polymers overheat through friction more severe damage can result as larger
volumes of locally melted material can be extracted from the surface.
High-strength ductile engineering thermoplastics such as nylon and acetal, offer good
wear performance can be further improved with the addition of internal lubricants
or reinforcing additives
Fibre reinforcements (e.g., glass fabric) and mineral fillers (e.g., calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) may be compounded into the base polymers to improve their load-carrying
capacity but can increase friction and give rise to more detrimental abrasive wear.
Very high molecular weights have a positive effect in reducing wear UHMWPE
(Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene).
Creep
Creep &
& Stress
Stress relaxation
relaxation
Creep
Creep
For polymers,
Time
Time dependence
dependence
2.
3.
Temperature
Temperaturedependence
dependence
Polymer chains are less energetic (more sluggish) and also more reluctant to move
under a force.
Makes it more difficult for them to unfold their ability to undergo large deformations
is suppressed.
In this state polymers are more likely to resist the applied load and stiffer.
Rising temperature and above the glass transition temperature, Tg, solid polymers
become softer and progress through the rubbery state to finally become a viscous
melt capable of flow.
The term "rubbery" refers to the ability to deform sluggishly, but the
deformations recover when the load is removed.
The term "glassy relates to the hardness, stiffness and brittleness of the
polymer at low temperatures.
Stress
Stress Relaxation
Relaxation
Failure
Failure in
in Polymers
Polymers
1.
2.
3.
4.
Modes
Modes of
of Mechanical
Mechanical Failures
Failures
1.
Excessive deformation
2.
Ductile failure
Yielding marks the onset of failure setting the upper limit to stress in
service to be below the yield point is common practice.
3.
Brittle failure
cracks,
badly distributed or
oversized additive particulates,
impurities etc.
Brittle failures can occur without prior warning, except for the formation
of crazes, as in glassy thermoplastics.
4.
Crazing
Crazes are not cracks and can continue to sustain loads after they are
formed.
However, they can transform into cracks via the breakage of the fibrils.
Types
Types of
of Failures
Failures
Because of the viscoelastic character of polymers no failure can
be described
entirely ductile or
entirely brittle.
The proportion of each type of fracture involved in polymer failure
depends on many factors:
the speed (and time) of loading and
the temperature of the sample.
The type of stress, for instance, whether static or dynamic
(fluctuating), determine the mode of failure.
Below are links to the most common of rupture:
Creep Rupture
Fatigue Failure
Impact Failure
Creep
Creeprupture
rupture
** are all decisive factors in determining the time taken for fracture to occur.
Although the precise details of the failure mechanism that precedes rupture in
creep are unclear it is known that locally,
These propagate in a slow stable manner, gradually reducing their ability to sustain the
load.
It is worth noting that the ultimate failure in creep may be preceded by shear yielding,
i.e. the creation of a neck, or by crazing.
These are good indicators that failure is in progress and that fracture is following. In
other cases, rupture can take place without any signs of warning.
Fatigue
Fatigue failure
failure
However, the effect of fatigue increases with higher tensile & Cyclic stress that gives rise to fatigue in materials
Once a crack is initiated it propagates by small steps during the tensile portion of a stress cycle.
The crack grows slowly but steadily up to the point where the remaining area of the parts section is unable to support
the load.
Failure prediction
The stresses involved in fatigue are much lower than the value required to cause outright failure.
A suitably large flaw or weak enough region lies in an adequately stressed region of loaded components may vary
according to
and/or frequency becomes lower than the rate of heat dissipation, and
so stored heat causes the temperature in the material to rise.
At sufficiently high temperatures the polymer may overheat and fail not
through fatigue but rather through creep or heat softening,
Impact
Impact failure
failure
Change
Typical effect on
ductility
Mass of impacting
body
Fibrous reinforcement
Temperature
Strain rate (speed of
impact)
Factors relevant to the ductility of polymers have the same effect on impact
resistance the time and temperature dependence of polymers limit the
ability of chains to "give" under impact (very high strain rate) conditions by
undergoing compensating molecular motion.
the energy of impact is expended on diverting the crack along the fibrematrix interface.
The size and shape of the notch (i.e., whether blunt or sharp) is critical
in determining the impact strength obtained from tests.
Factors
Factorsthat
thataffect
affectthe
themode
modeof
ofpolymer
polymerFailure
Failure
Loading Conditions
Environmental
Material structure aspects
1. Loading conditions
2. Environmental
Low temperature
particulate additives
Improving
Improvingthe
theresistance
resistanceof
ofpolymers
polymersto
tofailures
failures
The mechanical design has a role in avoiding the incorporation of features that
promote the likelihood of brittle fracture.
The following guidelines to identify the steps to enhance the failure resistance of
polymers in service:
1.
2.
3.
1.
Design considerations
Material Selection
Material Modification
Design considerations
2.
Material Selection
3.
Material Modification
the interfacial adhesion between the thermoplastic matrix and the rubber
being at an optimum level (i.e., neither too strong nor too weak)
the glass transition temperature of the rubber phase lower than the
service temperature.
Example
Example of
of the
the exams
exams question
question