Mech - Prop. 2023 (Compatibility Mode)
Mech - Prop. 2023 (Compatibility Mode)
Mech - Prop. 2023 (Compatibility Mode)
Polymer Technology
1
11/20/2023
2
11/20/2023
Selection of Polymers
Material selection requires an awareness of the
general behaviour of polymers as a group, as well
as a familiarity with the special characteristics of
individual polymers.
Selection of Polymers
The following are generally regarded as the most important
characteristics requiring consideration for most engineering
components.
mechanical properties - strength, stiffness, specific strength and stiffness,
fatigue and toughness, and the influence of high or low temperatures on
these properties
corrosion susceptibility and degradation
wear resistance and frictional properties;
special properties, for example, thermal, electrical, optical and magnetic
moulding and/or other methods of fabrication.
total costs attributable to the selected material and manufacturing route.
3
11/20/2023
Mechanical Properties
Strength and Stiffness
Thermoplastic materials are viscoelastic. Thus when a thermoplastic is
stressed it responds by exhibiting viscous flow (which dissipates energy) and
by elastic displacement (which stores energy). The properties of viscoelastic
materials are time, temperature and strain rate dependent. Nevertheless the
conventional stress-strain test is frequently used to describe the (short-term)
mechanical properties of plastics.
Mechanical Properties
4
11/20/2023
Mechanical Properties
Ductility
A load-bearing device or component must not distort so much under the
action of the service stresses that its function is impaired, nor must it fail by
rupture, though local yielding may be tolerable. Therefore, high modulus
and high strength, with ductility, is the desired combination of
attributes.
However, the inherent nature of plastics is such that high modulus tends to
be associated with low ductility and steps that are taken to improve the one
cause the other to deteriorate
Mechanical Properties
Creep and Recovery Behaviour
Plastics exhibit a time-dependent strain response to a constant applied
stress. This behaviour is called creep. In a similar fashion if the stress on a
plastic is removed it exhibits a time dependent recovery of strain back
towards its original dimensions.
10
5
11/20/2023
Mechanical Properties
Stress Relaxation
plastics is that if they are subjected to a particular strain and this strain is held
constant it is found that as time progresses, the stress necessary to maintain
this strain decreases. This is termed stress relaxation and is of vital
importance in the design of gaskets, seals, springs and snap-fit assemblies.
Creep Rupture
When a plastic is subjected to a constant tensile stress its strain increases
until a point is reached where the material fractures. This is called creep
rupture or, occasionally, static fatigue.
It is important for designers to be aware of this failure mode
Reason - it is a common error, amongst those accustomed to dealing with metals, to assume that
if the material is capable of withstanding the applied (static) load in the short term then there need
be no further worries about it.
This is not the case with plastics where it is necessary to use long-term design
data, particularly because some plastics which are tough at short times tend to
become embrittled at long times.
11
Mechanical Properties
Fatigue
Plastics are susceptible to brittle crack growth fractures as a result of cyclic
stresses, in much the same way as metals are.
In addition, because of their high damping and low thermal conductivity, plastics
are also prone to thermal softening if the cyclic stress or cyclic rate is high.
The plastics with the best fatigue resistance are polypropylene, ethylene-
propylene copolymer and PVDF.
Toughness
Some plastics are inherently very tough whereas others are inherently brittle.
Those which are nominally tough may become embrittled due to processing
conditions, chemical attack, prolonged exposure to constant stress, etc.
Where toughness is required in a particular application it is very important
therefore to check carefully the service conditions in relation to the above type
of factors.
At room temperature the toughest unreinforced plastics include nylon-6,6,
LDPE, LLDPE, EVA and polyurethane structural foam. At sub-zero
temperatures it is necessary to consider plastics such as ABS, polycarbonate
and EVA.
12
6
11/20/2023
13
14
7
11/20/2023
15
16
8
11/20/2023
17
18
9
11/20/2023
19
20
10
11/20/2023
21
22
11
11/20/2023
SOLUTION (Continued)
24
12
11/20/2023
25
26
13
11/20/2023
THERMOPLASTICS VS THERMOSETS
• Thermoplastics:
T
Callister,
rubber
--little cross linking viscous
Fig. 16.9
--ductile mobile liquid Tm
liquid tough
--soften w/heating
plastic
--polyethylene (#2) Tg
polypropylene (#5)
polycarbonate partially
crystalline
polystyrene (#6) crystalline
solid
solid
Molecular weight
• Thermosets: Adapted from Fig. 15.18, Callister 6e. (Fig. 15.18 is from F.W.
Billmeyer, Jr., Textbook of Polymer Science, 3rd ed., John Wiley
--large cross linking and Sons, Inc., 1984.)
(10 to 50% of mers)
--hard and brittle
--do NOT soften w/heating
--vulcanized rubber, epoxies,
polyester resin, phenolic resin 7 27
28
14
11/20/2023
29
Mechanical Properties
15
11/20/2023
Mechanical Properties
31
32
16
11/20/2023
Mechanical Properties
It is important to realise also that within the range of grades that exist for
a particular plastic, there can be significant differences in mechanical
properties.
33
34
17
11/20/2023
35
36
18
11/20/2023
37
38
19
11/20/2023
39
40
20
11/20/2023
41
42
21
11/20/2023
43
44
22
11/20/2023
45
Shish-kebab morphology
46
23
11/20/2023
47
48
24
11/20/2023
50
25
11/20/2023
51
52
26
11/20/2023
53
54
27
11/20/2023
55
smaller M w larger Mw
• Tensile strength (TS):
--often increases with Mw.
--Why? Longer chains are entangled (anchored) better.
56
28
11/20/2023
57
• Drawing...
--stretches the polymer prior to use
--aligns chains to the stretching direction
• Results of drawing:
--increases the elastic modulus (E) in the
stretching dir.
--increases the tensile strength (TS) in the
stretching dir.
--decreases ductility (%EL)
5 58
29
11/20/2023
σ(MPa)
60 xbrittle failure
plastic failure
40 x
20 x
elastomer
final: chains
0
0 2 4 6 ε 8
are straight,
still
cross-linked
initial: amorphous chains are Deformation
kinked, heavily cross-linked. is reversible!
Stress-strain curves adapted from Fig. 15.1, Callister 6e. Inset figures along elastomer curve
(green) adapted from Fig. 15.14, Callister 6e. (Fig. 15.14 is from Z.D. Jastrzebski, The Nature
and Properties of Engineering Materials, 3rd ed., John Wiley and Sons, 1987.)
6 59
Effect of crosslinking
60
30
11/20/2023
61
62
31
11/20/2023
63
64
32
11/20/2023
εo
Structures of
strain 10-1 Polymers, John
viscous liquid Wiley and Sons,
PC +150
65
33
11/20/2023
SOLUTION (Continued)
67
Hardness
68
34
11/20/2023
69
70
35
11/20/2023
71
Plastics are used extensively in the medical industry. One of the most interesting
medical applications for plastics is the “artificial hip”. Each prosthesis is made up of
two parts: the acetabular component (socket portion) that replaces the acetabulum,
and the femoral component (stem portion) that replaces the femoral head. The
femoral component is made of titanium, while the acetabular component is made of a
metal shell with a plastic inner socket liner. The plastic liner is molded from Ultra High
Molecular Weight Polyethylene and acts like a bearing. The UHMWPE is extremely
tough, abrasion resistant and has a very low coefficient of friction. This is a very good
example of how plastics and metals work together to enhance our quality of life.
Titanium
stem
UHMWPE
acetabular
72
36
11/20/2023
73
74
37
11/20/2023
75
Fracture of polymers
Fracture is defined as stress-based material disintegration
through the formation of new surfaces within a body. Fracture
starts out as a localized event that eventually encompasses the
whole object.
Fracture is synonymous with rupture and breakage but not with
failure. The latter term is more general and also encompasses
non-mechanical breakdown through heat (thermal failure) or
environmental degradation (chemical attack, irradiation).
76
38
11/20/2023
Fracture of polymers
77
Fracture of polymers
For fracture to occur, it is generally necessary that a specimen be
subjected to mechanical loads and that the resulting, initially
homogeneous (viscoelastic) material deformation—which
eventually would lead to creep and ductile failure—becomes
heterogeneous and initiates material separation.
The most likely sites for material separation are structural
irregularities, growing material defects, or pre-existing cracks.
In a polymeric material, such sites are for instance given by
inclusions of particles or voids, craze-like features, or cracks.
Crazes and subsequently cracks extend as the material between
voids and adjacent to a crack tip deforms and/or disintegrates.
78
39
11/20/2023
Fracture of polymers
Depending on the nature and the extent of such deformation,
breakdown occurs in quite different modes of failure: as brittle
fracture by rapid crack propagation, crazing, or slow crack
growth, or by ductile failure
The mode of failure (of a cracked specimen) is not an inherent
property of a given material in a given environment.
It also depends on the loading rate and especially on the local
state of stress, which is strongly influenced by the configuration
of the crack itself.
79
80
40
11/20/2023
81
82
41
11/20/2023
83
84
42
11/20/2023
85
Fracture of polymers
86
43
11/20/2023
Fracture of polymers
87
Fracture of polymers
88
44
11/20/2023
Fracture of polymers
89
Fracture of polymers
90
45
11/20/2023
Fracture of polymers
91
Fatigue
92
46
11/20/2023
47
11/20/2023
95
48
11/20/2023
97
49
11/20/2023
50
11/20/2023
101
Time-temperature superposition
102
51
11/20/2023
103
104
52
11/20/2023
105
106
53
11/20/2023
Design the type of polymer material you might select for the
following applications: a surgeon’s glove, a beverage container
and a pulley.
SOLUTION
The glove must be capable of stretching a great deal in
order to slip onto the surgeon’s hand. This requirement
describes an elastomer.
A thermoplastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
will have the necessary formability and ductility needed for this
application.
A relatively strong, rigid, hard material is required to prevent
wear, so a thermosetting polymer might be most appropriate.
107
54