Abstract
The stress relaxation and creep behavior of unfilled high density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE filled with untreated and surface-treated glass spheres were measured at room temperature. A silane-based coupling agent capable of providing a covalent bond between HDPE and the glass spheres was used for the surface-treatment. Two different amounts of the coupling agent were employed giving silane layers on the fillers with different thicknesses. The effect of ageing time at room temperature on the viscoelastic properties after quenching from 100 °C to room temperature in ice water was also investigated. The effects of the surface treatment of the fillers and the ageing time was characterized by means of the internal stress (σi) concept. Theσi-value increased with the degree of interaction of the filler/matrix interface and the ageing time. It was here not possible to superimpose the different flow curves with regard to the ageing time with sufficient accuracy. This is due to the variation ofσi with ageing time. The surface-treatment of the filler had a marked effect on the creep behavior at high applied stress levels and on the ageing behavior of the composites, presumably due to the formation of an interphase region close to the filler surface with different properties and different ageing characteristics than that of the bulk of the matrix.
Published Version
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