Date: April 7, 2018

To: Dr. Terry Xu

From: Muayad Alhilal (MEGR 3152 Section L04)

Subject: Analyzing the mechanical properties of polymers by conducting mechanical tests

Abstract

The purpose of the experiment was to analyze polymers in terms of mechanical properties by
conducting tensile and hardness tests. Three groups of polymers were tested which were unfilled
polymers, filled and unfilled nylons, and ABS. The samples from the unfilled polymers group were
linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), and high-density
polyethylene (HDPE). In addition, the samples from the the filled and unfilled nylon were nylon
6/6 and nylon 6/6 (30% glass fiber). Samples of ABS were tested under ten different temperatures
to observe the effect on the mechanical properties. The experiment started with conducting a
tensile test then a Rockwell hardness test on the samples. In general, it was observed that polymers
have more elongation and strain comparing with metals. however, the results also show that
polymers have low tensile and ultimate strengths. For instance, LLDPE had a modulus of 168
MPa, a tensile strength of 10.7 MPa, and a yield strength of 8.7 MPa. It was expected that polymers
have low hardness values since polymers have low strength. The hardness values of LLDPE were
89.4 HRM and -47.3 HRM. Furthermore, it was observed that nylon 6/6 with 30% glass fiber had
higher tensile and ultimate strengths (110 MPa and 94 MPa) than the unfilled nylon 6/6 (46.5 MPa
and 30 MPa). Moreover, it was found that temperature has an effect on ABS in terms of mechanical
properties. The tensile strength is decreasing when temperature is increasing. Therefore, there is
an inverse relationship between strength and temperature. In summery, the chemical composition
of a polymer is significant in defining the mechanical properties.

Introduction

Polymers are defined as the material that consists of many repeating units that are bounded to form
a three or a two dimensional network1. Plastics are made of polymers and behave different than
metals in terms of mechanical properties2. Tensile test is preformed on polymers to obtain
mechanical properties such as tensile strength and ductility. Moreover, Rockwell hardness test is
preformed to obtain hardness values. Furthermore, the purpose of the experiment was to correlate
the chemical composition of polymers to their mechanical properties. In addition, a test on a
polymer while temperature was varying was conducted to observe the effect on the material.

Unfilled Polymers

Three different polymers were obtained to conduct a tensile and Rockwell hardness test on to
observe the correlation between the chemical composition and the mechanical properties. The
polymers were linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), and
high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

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 Figure 1 Engineering stress-strain curves of unfilled polymers using extensometer extension

Figure 1 shows that LLDPE had lower tensile and ultimate strengths than HDPE. The reason is
that density plays a significant role on the mechanical properties of the materials. It was expected
that HDPE will have a higher ductility due to its high density. Furthermore, it was observed that
HIPS had a brittle mode fracture and had the highest ultimate strength, which makes it a high
impact material.

Table 1 Summery of mechanical properties of unfilled polymers 34

Property LLDPE HIPS HDPE

Modulus Experimental 0.168 2 0.52

(GPa) Literature 0.116 – 0.230 1.9 1
Tensile Experimental 10.7 21 19
Strength
(MPa) Literature - 32 24
Yield Experimental 8.7 21 16
Strength
(MPa) Literature 8.5 - 12 - -

Ductility Experimental 50% 46% 72%

(%) Literature 440% - 1220% 40% 100%
HRM 89.4 +/- 3.2 -31.7 +/- 3.8 134.5 +/- 17.3
Hardness
HRR -47.3 +/- 24 92.5 +/- 1.9 35.9 +/- 1.3

LLDPE secant modulus was calculated at a stress level of 8.5 MPa due to the non-linear elastic
behavior. In addition, LLDPE has 10.7 MPa tensile strength, 8.7 yield strength, and 50% ductility.
LLDPE was tested to a strain of 0.50 due to the fact that it has high ductility that could reach high
elongation. Moreover, HDPE secant modulus was calculated at a stress level of 14 MPa for the
non-liner elastic behavior as well. HDPE has 19 MPa tensile strength, 16 yield strength, and 72%
ductility. Lastly, HIPS has 2000 MPa modulus, 21 MPa tensile strength, and 46% ductility.
Comparing the hardness values between LLDPE and HDPE, it was found that HDPE has a higher
hardness value of 134.5 HRM. However, comparing HIPS and HDPE, it was found that HIPS has
a higher hardness value of 92.5 HRR. Therefore, the order of the polymers from less hard to high
hard values is LLDPE < HDPE < HIPS. Furthermore, it was observed when the test was
preformed, some samples tend to bend resulting a negative hardness value. In other words, the
limit of the scale used was exceeded. As a result, two different scales were used to overcome this

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issue. Overall, polymers tend to have higher elongation before they break comparing with metals.
In general, polymers exist more likely as ductile materials.

Filled and Unfilled Polymers

Two different polymers were obtained to observe the change in mechanical properties due to the
filling with different element. Standard nylon 6/6 and nylon 6/6 with 30% glass fiber samples were
obtained to conduct the tests.

Figure 2 Engineering stress-strain curves of filled and unfilled polymers using extensometer extension

Figure 2 shows that there is a significant change in mechanical properties between filled and
unfilled polymers. Unfilled nylon had a lower tensile and ultimate strength comparing with the
filled nylon. However, the unfilled nylon had more elongation and ductility before the fracture.

Table 2 Summary of mechanical properties of filled and unfilled nylon 4

Property Nylon 66 Nylon 66_30GF

Modulus Experimental 1.4 2

(GPa) Literature 3.3 7.5
Tensile Experimental 46.5 21
Strength
(MPa) Literature 86 140
Yield Experimental 30 21
Strength
(MPa) Literature - -

Ductility Experimental 62.8% 46%

(%) Literature 46% 5%
HRM 1.4 +/- 2.0 84.0 +/- 0.6
Hardness
HRR 92 +/- 1.9 116.2 +/- 0.1

Table 2 shows that nylon 6/6 had a modulus of 1.4 GPa, a tensile strength of 46.5 MPa, a yield
strength of 30 MPa, and a ductility of 62.8%. It was observed that nylon 6/6 has more strength
than the first group of samples. However, filling nylon with glass fiber changed its mechanical
properties. Glass fiber resulted an increase of the modulus, tensile, and ultimate strengths. Nylon
6/6_30GF had a modulus of 5.9 GPa, a tensile strength of 110 MPa, a yield strength of 96 MPa,

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and a ductility of 2.1%. it was observed that there was no necking before the fracture which
classified the sample as brittle unlike the ductile unfilled sample. It was predicted that filled nylon
will have a higher hardness value due to its high strength. Nylon 6/6 had 92 HRR while nylon
6/6_30GF had 116.2 HRR. As a result, filling nylon with glass fiber increase its strength and
hardness while it decreases its ductility.

Temperature Effects

Ten samples of ABS plastic were obtained and tested under ten different temperatures to observe
the effect of temperature on thermoplastic polymers.

Figure 3 Load vs. Crosshead extension of ABS samples tested under ten different temperatures

Figure 3 shows that ABS was affected by temperature. It was observed that increasing the
temperature lead to a decrease in ultimate tensile strength. As a result, there is inverse relationship
between strength and temperature. Furthermore, it was observed that at high temperatures, the
material tends to have high elongation and strain. The observation matches the behavior of plastics
in everyday applications. Moreover, the ABS had a hardness values of 33.4 +/- 2.6 HRM and 115
+/- 1.5 HRR. It is predicted that at high temperature, there will a decrease in these values due to
the lost strength. It is also known that temperature has reversible effect on thermoplastics.2

Conclusion

The experiment was conducted successfully. Mechanical properties of polymers were obtained
using tensile and Rockwell hardness tests. In addition, the difference between filled and unfilled
polymers in terms of mechanical properties was observed. Also, the effect of temperature on ABS
samples was significant in terms of the strength of the material. In summary, the chemical
composition and the type of polymer can define the mechanical properties. HIPS had the highest
strength among other material on the unfilled group of polymers. Furthermore, filling a polymer
with another element has increased its strength and hardness. The standard nylon 6/6 had a tensile
strength of 46.5 MPA before it was filled with 30% glass fiber to increase its tensile strength to
110 MPa. It is predicted that the element type will also affect the strength of the material.
Moreover, it was found that there is an inverse relationship between strength and temperature and
a linear relationship between ductility and temperature on ABS.

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References

1- American Chemistry Council. " The Basics: Polymer Definition and Properties." Plastics.
Accessed April 07, 2018. https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/plastics/The-Basics/.

2- Xu, Terry. 2018.“Lecture 9: Mechanical Testing of Polymers” MEGR3152: Mechanics

and Materials Labs.

3- "Online Materials Information Resource - MatWeb." Online Materials Information

Resource - MatWeb. Accessed April 07, 2018. http://www.matweb.com/.

4- "Material Properties Database." MakeItFrom.com: Material Properties Database. Accessed

April 07, 2018. https://www.makeitfrom.com/.