Applications of density profiling to equipment qualification issues
This paper reviews the density profiling technique - a new, inexpensive and versatile analytical method which can yield extremely useful information on heterogeneities in polymers. The technique makes use of a density gradient column to measure the density of a series of successively-cut slices across a sample. Since the density of very thin slices can easily be obtained, density profiles across very small cross-sections (<1 mm) are readily available. A major application of the technique involves oxidation studies of polymers, since oxidation reactions usually lead to substantial increases in polymer density. Diffusion-limited oxidation effects, which lead to heterogeneously oxidized materials, are often present in polymer aging studies in air. Since these effects are responsible for the commonly-observed physical dose-rate effects in radiation aging environments and for non-Arrhenius behavior in thermal aging environments, the availability of simple oxidation profiling techniques is a tremendous aid in validating the aging simulation aspects of equipment qualification procedures. This paper gives examples of the utility of density profiling for studying oxygen diffusion-limited degradation in both radiation and thermal aging environments and in discovering/understanding chemical dose-rate effects in high energy radiation environments.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5184717
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CR-4358; SAND-85-1557; ON: TI86000325
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
360404 -- Materials-- Polymers & Plastics-- Physical Properties-- (-1987)
360405 -- Materials-- Polymers & Plastics-- Degradation & Erosion-- (-1987)
360406 -- Materials-- Polymers & Plastics-- Radiation Effects-- (-1987)
42 ENGINEERING
420500* -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
DENSITY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EQUIPMENT
FATIGUE
HETEROGENEOUS EFFECTS
MATERIALS TESTING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLYMERS
RADIATION EFFECTS
TESTING
THERMAL FATIGUE
THERMAL TESTING