Andreas Frank, Isabelle J. Berger, Mario Messiha, Carl-Gustaf Ek, Norbert Schuler, Jens-Martin Storheil, Erwin Mayrbäurl, Steve Heeley, Frank Krause, Lodewijk Niemöller, Philippe Gabriëls, Yogesh S. Deshmukh, Florian Arbeiter, Thomas Koch, Gerald Pinter
Papers # 2018 Las-Vegas
In order to improve the circular economy of polymers in terms of sustainability and reduced carbon footprint, the increased use of recyclates has become a topic of major importance. Due to their long design lifetimes, pipe applications represent an excellent opportunity to create added value to non-virgin polymers. In this context, special attention must be paid to the resistance of such materials against slow crack growth (SCG) which is the essential material property for structural long-term performance of 50 years or even more. The current paper demonstrated the applicability of the Cyclic Cracked Round Bar (CRB) Test according ISO 18489 for a quick and sensitive SCG characterization and material ranking of different non-virgin PE, PP and PVC. Moreover, by systematical mixing of PE and PP it is shown that already a small amount of polymeric impurity has a big impact on the long-term relevant resistance against SCG.
