Objective
DURING THEIR LIFETIMES PLASTICS ARE SUBJECT TO AGEING BY A NUMBER OF NATURAL FORCES. ULTRAVIOLET (UV) LIGHT IS ONE OF THE MOST POTENT NATURAL FORCES. LEADING INITIALLY TO MOLECULAR BOND CLEAVAGE AND ULTIMATELY TO COMPLETE POLYMER DEGRADATION. EXPECTED PRODUCT LIFETIMES ARE OFTEN > 15 YEARS, MAKING THE GENERATION OF RELIABLE, ACCELERATED AGEING DATA OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE.
HOWEVER, RAPIDLY CHANGING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND NEW POLYMER DEVELOPMENTS MEAN THAT AVAILABLE TESTING TIMES ARE CONSTANTLY BEING CONSTRAINED. CONVENTIONAL TEST METHODS PROVIDE AT MOST, ONLY A HUNDREDFOLD (X 10 TO THE POWER 2) ACCELERATION OVER NATURAL AGEING. THEREFORE, THERE IS A NEED FOR NEW, RELIABLE TEST METHODS WITH GREATLY INCREASED RATES OF ACCELERATION. THE PROPOSED NEW TEST METHOD USES A POWERFUL, PULSED LASER AS THE UV LIGHT SOURCE AND PROMISES THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
- A SIGNIFICANT SHORTENING OF QUALIFICATION TIMES
- A FASTER IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW POLYMER SYSTEMS
- A SAFER PREDICTION OF LONG TERM MATERIAL BEHAVIOUR AND THEREFORE A REDUCED RISK OF FIELD FAILURES.
THEREFORE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ARE:
- EVALUATION OF A NEW AGEING METHOD FOR POLYMERS
- PREDICTION OF POSSIBLE ACCELERATION FACTORS
- COMPARISON WITH ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL AGEING.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
70435 Stuttgart
Germany