Effects of chemical and gamma irradiation environments on the mechanical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5219323

Soo, P

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is currently being used as a high-integrity container material for low-level wastes. Potential failure/degration modes must be determined for realistic environmental conditions. These include consideration of mechanical stress, gaseous/liquid environments within and external to the container, and the gamma radiation field. A combination of simple inexpensive tests (stressed U-bend samples) and more sophisticated longer-term uniaxial creep tests are being used to define the ranges of conditions for which mechanical failure/degradation is important. Test environments include Igepal CO-630, turbine oil and liquid scintillation fluid as well as air and deionized water, the control environments. Igepal CO-630 is a surfactant specified in standard ASTM tests for environmental stress cracking. Turbine oil is a possible constituent of low-level waste generated at reactor power plants, and is used in the current tests because of its known detrimental behavior to many types of plastic. Liquid scintillation fluids are being evaluated here because they are representative of the class of organiz solvents containing toluene and xylene. As such they will give valuable insights regarding a type of potential failure or degradation mode for HDPE. The effect of gamma irradiation on crack initiation and propagation is also being studied. A description of the work and results are presented. 8 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5219323
• Report Number(s): BNL-NUREG-40842; CONF-880201-27; ON: DE88007044; TRN: 88-017577
• Resource Relation: Conference: Waste management '88: symposium on radioactive waste management, Tucson, AZ, USA, 26 Feb 1988
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
CONTAINERS
POLYETHYLENES
FAILURES
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
ABSORPTION
AIR
CRACK PROPAGATION
CRACKS
CREEP
DUCTILITY
FLUIDS
GAMMA RADIATION
MATERIALS TESTING
OILS
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
OXIDATION
PLASTICS
STRESS INTENSITY FACTORS
STRESSES
SURFACTANTS
TOLUENE
WATER
XYLENES
ALKYLATED AROMATICS
AROMATICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SOLVENTS
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TESTING
WASTES
360605* - Materials- Radiation Effects
360603 - Materials- Properties
360604 - Materials- Corrosion
Erosion
& Degradation
052000 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management