Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: History of fiberglass

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

History of fiberglass

The use of fiberglass dates back to 1836 when Ignace Dubus-Bonnel received the world’s first patent on a method of making them. At the time, fiberglass was hard to make thin enough to be completely flexible, and no reliable method of mass production existed. 

These problems would only be solved in 1932 by Dale Kleist, a graduate student who was working part-time at Owens-Illinois as a researcher. The company wanted to make glass blocks for architectural use, and its researchers were looking for a way to seal the two halves of a block together so that moisture couldn’t get inside. 

He decided to try a metal-spraying gun with molten glass instead of bronze and discovered that it created a shower of ultrafine, thread-like glass fibers. Owens-Illinois immediately recognized that this was an excellent way to make glass wool for insulation and that it might be adaptable for other applications. 

Four years and the researchers were turning out individual strands long and flexible enough to be woven into cloth. The cloth was remarkably strong, and it could be cut and folded just like ordinary fabrics. 

Source:

The Fiberglass Story, written by Michael Lamm/

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Valve Liner Cracking

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Valve Liner Cracking

I recently wrapped up a failure analysis on a valve liner that had cracked while in service. The valve liner had been machined from perfluoro alkoxy (PFA). In this case, almost no background information was available on the valve application. My client was several steps removed from the installation. This can significantly hamper the failure analysis, limiting the ability to interpret test results.

The visual examination revealed a significant level of rust and adherent gritty debris on the valve liner. A circumferential crack was present within a design corner of the plastic liner. The cracking exhibited a continuous irregular crack pattern indicative of multiple radial cracks, not a circumferential crack. No signs of macro ductility were apparent, and the observed features were characteristic of brittle fracture.

The fracture surface displayed features indicating multiple individual cracks initiating at the liner design corner. The cracking extended radially into the part wall, and the coalescence of the individual cracks formed the circumferential fracture orientation.

The scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination confirmed the presence of multiple crack origins, separated by ridgelike features corresponding to crack unions. A significant level of micro ductility was apparent within the crack origins, as indicated by stretched flaps. Striation bands of stretched flaps corresponding to progressive crack propagation were evident extending out from the crack origin area. The features were characteristic of dynamic fatigue. These features extended out from the origin through the mid-crack fracture surface. On the opposite wall of the liner from the crack origins, a significant level of stretching and deformation was apparent. This represented substantial micro ductility, and corresponded to mechanical overload within the final fracture zone.

Overall, the fractographic evaluation indicated that the valve liner failed through dynamic fatigue associated with alternating cycles of cracking and arrest. Based upon the observed striations, it is thought that this was low cycle fatigue, less than 10,000 cycles. However, such assessments can be erroneous, as crack initiation can account for up to 80% of the cycles.

Analytical testing including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) produced results characteristic of a PFA resin, with no indication of material irregularities.

Background information detailing the service conditions would have been helpful to identify the source of the stress responsible for the failure, as well as contributing environmental factors.

Source:The Madison Group

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#plastics #failureanalysis #cracking #pfa #valves #fractography #sem #dsc

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Nanoparticle in carbon fiber composites

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Nanoparticle in carbon fiber composites

Check out this amazing microscopy! 

This picture shows residues of a nano particle toughened epoxy matrix adhering to a fractured carbon fiber! 

Source: Leibniz-Institut Für Verbundwerkstoffe

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Failure Analysis of Electrical Connectors

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Failure Analysis of Electrical Connectors

The metal leads on low voltage electrical connectors cracked during outdoor exposure testing. Initially, a metallurgical failure analysis was performed, concluding that the leads failed due to pitting and stress corrosion cracking (SCC).

As part of the metallurgical analysis, the lead wires were identified as a 65% Cu/35% Zn yellow brass with an exterior silver plating and a nickel underplating. These results were verified as part of the continued evaluation I performed through SEM-EDS analysis and elemental mapping.

The plastic base material was specified as an unfilled polypropylene, formulated with tetrabromobisphenol A bis(dibromopropyl ether) a brominated flame retardant; and antimony oxide a synergistic flame retardant additive. This was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and EDS.

Visual and microscopical examinations confirmed the cracked leads. The connectors also showed the presence of white and blue-green deposits, as corrosion debris, surrounding the failed leads.

The connectors were inspected via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tested using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The plastic core showed a high concentration of carbon; moderate levels of bromine, oxygen, and antimony; and a trace of chlorine. The carbon was principally present as polypropylene. Some of the carbon, the bromine, the oxygen, the antimony, and the chlorine represented the flame retardant package.

The SEM examination confirmed the presence of corrosion debris, as a mud cracked morphology, consistent with the deposition of metallic corrosion product. Elemental analysis of these surface deposits showed high concentrations of copper and zinc, and a substantial increase in the level of oxygen. The presence of bromine was also indicated within the corrosion deposits.

The SEM examination of the plastic bases adjacent to the failed leads revealed needle-like particles, with relatively high concentrations of oxygen and bromine. The antimony content within the needles was not elevated relative to the base plastic. These results and the form of the particles indicated that the needles represented brominated flame retardant that had migrated from the base plastic onto the surface - a phenomenon referred to as bloom.

The needle-like particles observed on the failed connectors were identified as the brominated flame retardant, which had bloomed to the surface during the exposure testing. The brominated flame retardant acted as a corrosive agent in conjunction with the connector lead wires. Under conditions of weathering and exposure to moisture, it is possible that the brominated flame retardant produced degradation products that would be even more corrosive to the lead wires.

Source:The Madison Group

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#plastics #failureanalysis #ftir #polymers #polypropylene #sem #fractography #electrical #corrosion

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:How thin are carbon fibers?

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

How thin are carbon fibers? 

The answer is pretty simple, carbon fibers have a diameter between 5 and 10 micrometers. But that is kind of hard to visualize, right? So let's compare them to something all humans have (some more than others), hair!

Luckily, we have a very nice picture that makes it very easy to draw a comparison. Crazy to realize how carbon fibers are thin, right? In case you are wondering, a human hair is about 40-120 microns in diameter. 

But if you think that human hair is a very weak material, you are wrong! It consists almost entirely of a protein called Keratin which has about half of the ultimate tensile strength of steel (200 MPa). If you are tensile testing a single strand, you will only measure about 100 grams of force. 

Going back to carbon fibers, it is crucial for them to have small diameters, because it allows greater graphite content. This way, the probability of having a concentration of defects in the 3D structure is considerably reduced. The mechanical properties of these fibers are inversely proportional to their filament diameter. 

Source:mccomposites

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#composites #fibers #carbonfiber #graphite #materialsscience

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:The first composite ski

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

The first composite ski! 

The first successful all-fiberglass ski was the Toni Sailer ski in 1959. Art Molnar and Fred Langendorf invented and built the ski in nearby Montreal. There had been other attempts to build all fiberglass (plastic) skis starting as early as 1952, but none had made it into production. This type of construction quickly replaced both wood and aluminium construction for most recreational skis. Within ten years it was the industry standard. 

Let's learn more about its inventors: 

Langendorf was an engineer who specialized in fiberglass and I have not uncovered much subsequent information about him. However, Art Molnar has a long resumé in the ski and snowboard world: Molnar fled Hungary during the 1956 Revolution and landed a job working for Langendorf in Montreal. Molnar designed the first Sailer ski and then in 1963 designed a later model with a ribbed fiberglass core where the ribs were separated by air channels. This latter design made the ski extremely light, but still strong. In 1967 Molnar left Langendorf to go to work for K2 and develop a line of skis using foam cores. Then in 1971 he moved to Lange where he helped produce the first Lange ski. 

Finally in 1973 Molnar started his own ski company utilizing the ribbed fiberglass core he initiated at Sailer. Molnar skis were light in weight with a soft flex and developed a cult following among powder skiers. Molnar was able to keep his company afloat for ten years before having to close his factory in 1983. 

Source: Retro Skiing/ #managingcomposites #thenativelab

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Elemental Analysis of Debris

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Elemental Analysis of Debris

The madison Group has completed a project with the objective of analyzing the composition of debris. Upon opening a gaylord of resin, a collection of contaminant debris was apparent interspersed within the plastic molding pellets. Contamination can pose a significant problem if molded into plastic parts, and can lead to premature failure. The debris was sampled, and subsequent visual and microscopic examinations revealed exclusively metallic-looking particles.

The debris material was analyzed via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in conjunction with a scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is a nondestructive chemical microanalysis technique. The technique provides relative elemental concentrations for elements having an atomic weight of 5 and greater.

The SEM inspection revealed that the debris consisted primarily of spherical particles. Some distortion, suggestive of partial melting, was observed. The EDS analysis identified that these particles were primary copper. The spherical nature of the particles, together with signs of melting, was consistent with high-temperature re-solidification, such as weld spatter.

Some additional flakes were also evident within the debris. The analysis showed that these were a combination of zinc with lower amounts of iron and lead.

Further analysis of the debris using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) did not show significant levels of organic-based materials above the detection limits of the spectrometer.

Once this information was relayed back to the resin supplier, it was discovered that electrical maintenance and repair work had been performed in the vicinity where this resin production lot had been stored. Work with copper wiring and conduit at elevated temperature was the likely source of the contamination.

Source:The Madison Group

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#plastics #ftir #debris #materialsscience #contamination #eds #sem #metals #microscopy #analysis #copper #zinc