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U.S. Department of Energy
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Low stress brittle fracture in polymers: Annual technical progress report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6374081
A comparative investigation was made on the difference in slow crack growth behavior of a linear polyethylene and an ethylene-hexene co-polymer with 4.8 butyle branches per 1000 carbon atoms. Whereas the kinetics of initiation were linear in time, for the linear PE they were logarithmic for the copolymer; whereas a critical COD governs the beginning of crack growth in linear PE, the incubation time for crack growth in the co-polymer is about 0.6 of the time for complete failure. The difference between the morphologies of these materials fitted the observed difference in kinetic behavior. Based on the kinetics of damage initiation for ductile failure and brittle failure by slow crack growth, equations were developed for determining the critical time and stress for the ductile-brittle transition at a given defect and temperature.
Research Organization:
Pennsylvania Univ., Philadelphia (USA). Dept. of Materials Science
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-84ER45161
OSTI ID:
6374081
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/45161-3; ON: DE87012823
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English