Creep behavior and lifetime prediction of PMMA immersed in liquid scintillator

Abstract

The creep behavior of PMMA immersed in liquid scintillator at room temperature was experimentally studied with a new type of creep test machine. Both short-term and creep-rupture tensile tests at eight stress levels were performed. A master curve of creep compliance at a reference stress was obtained according to the Time-Stress Superposition Principle. The master curve was compared with the actual long-term creep curve. It demonstrates that the two curves coincide well at short times. However, the actual creep data shows a higher creep rate as time goes on. The actual lifetime is much shorter than that predicted by the master curve. Furthermore, the relationship between long-term creep limited strength and service life was determined. The results can be used to guide the safety design of PMMA vessels for application in a neutrino observatory.