Showing papers in "Polymer Testing in 2008"

TL;DR: In this article, a series of crosslinked PLA materials with different gel fraction and crosslink density were characterized by FTIR, and the thermal and mechanical properties of samples were also investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA).

TL;DR: In this paper, a novel ethylene propylene diene monomer/halloysite nanotubes (EPDM/HNT) nanocomposite was prepared by mixing 0.100 parts per hundred rubber (phr) of HNTs with EPDM on a two-roll mill.

TL;DR: In this paper, an experimental rig was set up to carry out equi-biaxial tests: the classic bulge test method has been coupled with optical devices allowing measurement in real time of the stress and elongation levels of the specimen Uniaxial stretching tests were performed by means of a standard tensile machine and a video extensometer.

TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of the melt flow index of polypropylene (PP)/natural fiber composites was investigated, and maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted PP was used as a compatibilizer to improve the interfacial interaction between hydrophilic natural fibers and the hydrophobic matrix PP.

TL;DR: In this paper, the mechanical behavior of an unfilled silicone rubber is analyzed using Digital Image Correlation technique and five homogeneous tests: tensile, pure shear, compression, plane strain compression and bulge tests.

TL;DR: The structural characteristics and mechanical properties of coir fiber/polyester composites were evaluated in this paper, where the coir fibers were obtained from disregarded coconut shells that if not properly processed constitute an environmental hazard.

TL;DR: In this paper, several magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) samples, with different weight percentages of carbon black, were fabricated under a constant magnetic field, and their microstructures were observed by using an environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM).

TL;DR: In this paper, the thermal properties and the properties closely related to the thermal behavior of fabrics (porosity and air permeability) were investigated and the results obtained indicate that heat transfer through the fabrics is highly related to both capillary structure and surface characteristics of yarns (a continuous package of short fibers), as well as air volume distribution within the fabrics.

TL;DR: In this article, the damping properties of MREs were investigated by using a modified dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) and a universal testing machine, and the results showed that the loss factor in the glass transition region decreases with the increment of iron particle content.

TL;DR: In this paper, a servo-hydraulic machine was used to perform dynamic tensile tests on four representative plastic materials following a practice guideline by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

TL;DR: In this article, the degree of crystallinity, crystallite size, inter-chain separation and d-spacing were calculated from the experimental results, whereas crystal symmetry, space group, unit cell dimensions, agreement factors and molecular arrangement were derived using FullProf and FOX v. 1.7.

TL;DR: In this paper, the feasibility of the Avrami, Ozawa, O'Neill, Avramian, and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) models for the determination of EVA crosslink kinetic parameters was evaluated.

TL;DR: The ability of different PVC plasticizers to migrate towards a polymer in contact with flexible PVC has been investigated in this paper, where a procedure based on the monitoring of the plasticizer concentration by infrared spectroscopy has been employed.

TL;DR: In this article, low-pressure nitrogen plasma has been used to improve wettability in polyurethane films using contact angle measurements, which showed a considerable improvement in surface Wettability even for short exposure times, as observed by a remarkable decrease in contact angle values.

TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of polymer concentration on the rheological and thermal properties and microstructure of bitumen modified with recycled polyethylene modified bitumen was investigated.

TL;DR: In this article, a quasi-static test method mimics the self-healing process by pulling a pre-heated disk-shaped object through the ionomeric polymer rapidly and in a controlled manner.

TL;DR: In this paper, a new approach for the determination of major elemental ratios in organic compounds such as polymers by using laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) was investigated.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of particle size of zinc oxide (ZnO) on mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of pure polyoxymethylene (POM) and POM/znO nanocomposites were investigated.

TL;DR: In this article, the influence of two types of montmorillonite nanofillers (Cloisite 30B and Nanofil 2), two kinds of organic modifiers (poly(methyl methacrylate) and ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer) on transmission rates of water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide through polylactide films is discussed.

TL;DR: In this article, a high-speed tensile test was conducted on reinforced polypropylene (PP) and polybutene-1 (PB-1) materials and the results showed that an increase of tensile strength could be found for the PP and PB-1 materials examined with increasing strain rate.

TL;DR: In this article, a solution precipitation method for the first time was used to prepare polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/graphite composites by using an impedance analyzer to study the mechanical, thermal and dielectric properties of these composites.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the isothermal crystallization behavior of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in the presence and absence of silica nanoparticles using in-situ attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy.

TL;DR: In this paper, the use of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) as a toughening agent for nylon 6 (PA6) was compared with ENR, and it was found that NR and ENR decreased yield stress and tensile strength but slightly increased elongation at break of PA6.

TL;DR: In this article, the essential work of fracture (EWF) method was used to evaluate the fracture properties of polypropylene (PP)/Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay based composite by melt compounding with maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MA-g-PP) as a compatibilizer.

TL;DR: In this paper, a peroxide-based compatibilization between recycled HDPE matrix and ground tyre rubber powder, through a free radical mechanism, was proposed to improve interfacial adhesion and elongation.

TL;DR: In this article, a core-shell poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-SiO2 nanoparticles were prepared in an aqueous solution by suspension-dispersion-polymerization (SDP).

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured the swell ratio for polypropylene composites filled with diatomite with different particle sizes (volume fraction of 10%) and investigated the effects of die geometry and extrusion conditions on the die-swell behavior of the composite melts with temperature varying from 210 to 230 °C and load varying from 5 to 12.5 kg.

TL;DR: In this article, the mechanical properties of polyamide-12/Cloisite 30B (PA12/C30B) nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding were studied as a function of clay volume fraction φ under various processing conditions.

TL;DR: In this paper, the degradability of thermoplastic starch and dialdehyde starch under controlled composting conditions was investigated and a manual set-up was built according to ISO 14855 for this purpose.

TL;DR: In this article, a new strategy for preparation of isobutylene-isoprene rubber (IIR)/clay nanocomposites is reported based on two steps, i.e., preparation of swollen orgnomontmorillonite, followed by shear mixing on a two-roll mill with IIR.