Polymer materials are subject to a variety of aging mechanisms that deteriorate their physical and chemical properties over time. This leads to medium or long-term damage to the materials used, requiring expensive maintenance or replacement measures.
The GWP is able to analyse these damage cases and use environmental simulation to test the failure in advance on new parts. Typical aging mechanisms that can be systematically investigated include:
- Thermal aging
Thermo-oxidative degradation: Heat causes the decomposition of polymer chains, especially in the presence of oxygen. This can lead to discoloration, embrittlement and a loss of mechanical strength.
Thermal degradation: At high temperatures, polymer chains can break without oxygen involvement, which also leads to material embrittlement and degradation.
- Photooxidative aging
Ultraviolet light can break polymer chains and create radicals that further react and degrade the material. This often leads to discoloration and cracking.
- Hydrolytic aging
Moisture or water can attack hydrolysis-sensitive bonds (e.g. ester or amide groups) in the polymer, leading to chain cleavage and material embrittlement.
Humidity: Prolonged exposure to humid environments can cause the material to swell and change its mechanical properties.
- chemical attack
Exposure to chemicals such as acids, bases, solvents or pollutants can attack and degrade the polymer.
