Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is extensively employed in corrosive and radiation environments. To improve the radiation tolerance of PEEK in the presence of high energetic radiation, PEEK was reinforced with micron sized alumina powder (5-25% by weight) and PEEK-alumina composite sheets fabricated were irradiated to 10 MGy. Mechanical properties of the irradiated composites revealed significant reduction in the degradation of PEEK with addition of alumina as the polymer reinforced with ceramic additives is expected to increase the interface area of the constituents in the system resulting in an improvement in the performance of the reinforced material. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sampath Kumar T S

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Falix Lawrence

C. Mallika

U. Kamachi Mudali

R. Natarajan

D. Ponraju

Suresh Krishnamoorthy Seshadri

ALUMINA COMPOSITES

Alumina powder

CERAMIC ADDITIVES

COMPOSITE SHEETS

ENERGETIC RADIATION

RADIATION DEGRADATION

RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS

RADIATION TOLERANCES

REINFORCED MATERIAL

Alumina

Degradation

Ethers

Interfaces (materials)

Mechanical properties

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Journal of Nuclear Materials

Sheets of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and PEEK-alumina composites with micron-sized alumina powder with 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% by weight were fabricated, irradiated with gamma rays up to 10 MGy and the degradation in their thermal properties and morphology were evaluated. The radicals generated during irradiation get stabilized by chain scission and crosslinking. Chain scission is predominant on the surface and crosslinking is predominant in the bulk of the samples. Owing to radiation damage, the glass transition temperature, T g increased for pure PEEK from 136 to 140.5 °C, whereas the shift in T g for the composites decreased with increase in alumina content and for PEEK-25% alumina, the change in T g was insignificant, as alumina acts as an excitation energy sink and reduces the crosslinking density, which in turn decreased the shift in T g towards higher temperature. Similarly, the melting temperature, T m and enthalpy of melting, ΔH m of PEEK and PEEK-alumina composites decreased on account of radiation owing to the restriction of chain mobility and disordering of structures caused by crosslinks. The decrease in T m and ΔH m was more pronounced in pure PEEK and the extent of decrease in T m and ΔH m was less for composites. SEM images revealed the formation of micro-cracks and micro-pores in PEEK due to radiation. The SEM image of irradiated PEEK-alumina (25%) composite showed negligible micro-cracks and micro-pores, because of the reinforcing effect of high alumina content in the PEEK matrix which helps in reducing the degradation in the properties of the polymer. Though alumina reduces the degradation of the polymer matrix during irradiation, an optimum level of ceramic fillers only have to be loaded to the polymer to avoid the reduction in toughness.©ASM International.

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Degradation in thermal properties and morphology of polyetheretherketone- alumina composites exposed to gamma radiation

Composites Part B: Engineering

The application of PEEK in stainless steel fiber and carbon fiber reinforced composites

Fusion Engineering and Design

TIEMF in unirradiated Cu cored MI cables: Microstructure

High performance polymer matrix composites based on poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) as matrix and aluminum nitride particle (AlNp) as filler were prepared. The effect of AlNp on the storage modulus, loss modulus, mechanical loss factor, and glass transition were investigated. The AlNp reinforcement is more pronounced above glass transition temperature (Tg). Composite containing 70 wt.% AlNp exhibit about 100% increase in storage modulus at 50 °C and about 500% increase at 250 °C, and 19 °C increase in glass transition temperature as compared to pure PEEK. Peak height of tan δ for composites was decreased to one sixth of the pure PEEK. It is probably due to improved crystallinity of PEEK and strong interaction between the AlNp and PEEK matrix. SEM reveals excellent distribution of AlNp in PEEK matrix and good interaction between AlNp and PEEK matrix. © 2006.

Fulltext

Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing

Effect of aluminum nitride on thermomechanical properties of high performance PEEK

Polymer

The mechanical properties of poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) with emphasis on the large compressive strain response

Materials Chemistry and Physics

PEEK composites reinforced by nano-sized SiO2 and Al2O3 particulates

Radiation degradation in the mechanical properties of Polyetheretherketone- alumina composites

Journal	Data powered by TypesetJournal of Nuclear Materials
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier
ISSN	00223115
Open Access	No