Environmental Stress Cracking (ESC) of ABS (II)

Abstract

This chapter investigates the mechanism of the crack propagation of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in non-ionic surfactants by edge crack tension (ECT) tests and a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and reports that the level of local stress at the crack tip was the dominant factor which determined the mechanism of crack propagation. The results from study suggest that the change of morphology at the crack tip was also affected by the penetration of the surfactant and the crack propagation rate. Environmental stress cracking (ESC) of ABS copolymer caused by two kinds of non-ionic surfactants was studied by ECT tests. The dependence of the ESC on temperature and on the kind of surfactant was investigated. The fracture surfaces were investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that when the temperature was low, the crack propagation rate was low and it propagated by ESC and successive arrest of crack propagation was caused by the change of morphology in large area at the crack tip. It was also found that when the temperature was high, the rise of temperature had a different effect on each surfactant.