• Nysten, Bernard
• Gandin, Ezio
• Vlémincq, Céline
• Pardoen, Thomas

Abstract

The contact with industrial fluids and the associated mechanical degradation is a major challenge for the polymerindustry. Currently, the characterization of the mechanical properties after ageing with fluids is long and costly, as itis essentially based on the macroscopic characterization of saturated samples. In this context, the objective of theproject is to exploit the potential of local methods to evaluate the evolution of the mechanical properties, throughnanoindentation and atomic force microscopy, and to establish assessment protocols for the quantification ofthe impact of fluids on mechanical properties with an aging time that could be reduced from months to a fewminutes. The first polymer-liquid couple studied in this work is RTM6(epoxy resin)-water. The aging of this resinis mostly studied by nanoindentation on immerged samples. This is currently the main part of the project whichinvolves several complex issues such as the degree of diffusion of the liquid, the influence of residual stresses orof creep on the nanoindentation response. Macroscopic experiments based on tensile and compression tests onaged samples are used as reference. At the same time, a modeling approach based on finite element simulationsis deployed to support the understanding of the link between nano-microscopic results and elasto-viscoplasticmacroscopic properties with a model ultimately adapted to the presence of a liquid.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• polymer
• experiment
• atomic force microscopy
• nanoindentation
• compression test
• aging
• resin
• creep
• aging