Experimental Analysis of the Physical Degradation of Polymers – The Case of Polymethyl Methacrylate

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

PDF Visual Abstract
Published Jul 19, 2020
DOI https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.53.06

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Afaf Kaddouri
University of Djillali Liabes, Laboratory of Mechanics Physics of Materials (LMPM Laboratory), Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0996-9865 Boualem Serier
Faculty of Technology at Djillali Liabès University in the City of Sidi Bel-Abbès
Khacem Kaddouri
Faculty of Technology at Djillali Liabès University in the City of Sidi Bel-Abbès
Mohamed Belhouari
Faculty of Technology at Djillali Liabès University in the City of Sidi Bel-Abbès

Abstract

Polymers are known to be sensitive to aging; their lifetime can be predicted through experimental tests.


The present paper presents an experimental study on the long-term performance of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) exposed to solar and UV radiations, drinking water and sea water. The performance of this polymer was analyzed in terms of strain variation, strain at break in tension, and Young's modulus. The results obtained showed that the amount of absorbed water is independent of the nature of the solvent, and only the absorption kinetics may be regulated by the species contained in the medium. This seems to indicate that plastification of polymers is a reversible phenomenon. In addition, it was found that the tensile strength and elastic modulus drop with increasing immersion time. Compared with seawater, the absorption of drinking tap water, after 36 months, leads to a non-linear behavior of the polymethyl methacrylate. Exposition of  PMMA to UV radiation and global solar radiation, for the same duration of exposure, resulted in greater performance degradation when the polymer was exposed to UV radiation. In addition, the results obtained after a 19-month exposure period that the UV radiation changes the behavior of this material from viscoelastic to viscoplastic.   

Comments

  1. Latest Oldest Top Comments

    Downloads

    Download data is not yet available.

    ##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

    Issue
    Vol. 14 No. 53 (2020): July 2020
    Section
    Advanced Manufacturing and Processing

    How to Cite

    Kaddouri, A., Serier, B., Kaddouri, K. and Belhouari, M. (2020) “Experimental Analysis of the Physical Degradation of Polymers – The Case of Polymethyl Methacrylate”, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 14(53), pp. 66–80. doi: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.53.06.
    Creative Commons License

    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

    Copyright 
    Authors are allowed to retain both the copyright and the publishing rights of their articles without restrictions.  

    Open Access Statement

    Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale (Fracture and Structural Integrity, F&SI) is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the DOAI definition of open access.

    F&SI operates under the Creative Commons Licence Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0). This allows to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, to remix, transform and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, but giving appropriate credit and providing a link to the license and indicating if changes were made.