Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride Research Articles

Reliability assessment of axially loaded uPVC tube confined reinforced concrete columns

Un-plasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) tubes are increasingly used as stay-in-place formwork and protection for reinforced concrete columns from chemical attacks, peeling of concrete cover and corrosion of steel in a harsh environment. The provision of uPVC lateral confinement to the concrete improves the strength, ductility and energy absorption of the columns. However, since there is no available design guideline for uPVC tube confined concrete columns, the contribution of uPVC confinement to the column resistance has not been considered during the design stage. In this study, the strength reduction factor ϕ provided by ACI 318–14 for a reinforced concrete column with circular tie reinforcement is modified to account for uPVC confinement for application in design. The subset simulation method was applied to assess the effect of uPVC confinement on the reliability of uPVC confined concrete columns. Based on the reliability study, a new strength reduction factor was proposed for uPVC confined reinforced concrete columns. Additionally, the effect of column variables on the reliability index was also investigated. The result shows that the additional uncertainties associated with the uPVC material properties and the peak strength model have an effect on the strength reduction factor. Therefore, the strength reduction factor needs to be reduced to achieve the same reliability level of the unconfined column. However, for the same design load used, the reliability index and strength reduction factor increased from 4.03 to 4.53 and 0.65 to 0.75, respectively as the 2t/D ratio increases from 0 to 0.04. Therefore, a strength reduction factor (ϕ) of 0.75 can be used instead of 0.65 to design a reinforced concrete column according to ACI 318–14 if the uPVC tube is going to be used as stay-in-place formwork; otherwise, the new proposed model can be used to calculate the strength reduction factor and design a uPVC confined concrete column according to ACI 318–14.

Investigation on UPVC confined RC columns with Recycled Aggregate Concrete using C&D waste

Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) is attracting world-wide research interest. Despite its promising impact on environment and economy, use of RAC has been limited to non-structural purposes mainly due to its poor performance (such as lower strength/stiffness, poor durability, higher creep, shrinkage). A possible approach to use RAC as a structural element is confinement of RAC. This study aims at the introduction of a new sustainable composite material which is reinforced RAC filled unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) tubular columns. In this present investigation, 81 cylindrical specimens consisting of 54 confined specimens and 27 unconfined specimens have been examined under axial compression. It is found that UPVC tubes can be used effectively for good confinement of reinforced RAC columns as it enhances load capacity and ductility of RAC columns significantly. Capacity equation from Eurocode 4, as well as various confining models available for conventional concrete confined by steel tubes, have been modified and used to calculate peak compressive load of RAC filled UPVC tubular columns in order to compare and assess its potentiality & suitability in the understanding actual behavior of such a system.

Extraction of magnetic circular dichroism effects from blended mixture of magnetic linear dichroism signals in the cobalt/Scotch tape system

Circular dichroism (CD) signals revealed in some materials may arise from different origins during measurements. Magnetic field dependent CD (MCD) emanating from the spin-polarized band provides direct insight into the spin–spin interband transitions in magnetic materials. On the contrary, natural CD effects which are artefactual signals resulting from the linear polarization (LP) components during the polarization modulation with a photo-elastic modulator in anisotropic polymer systems were usually observed. There is no simple method to reliably distinguish MCD effect due to spin polarized band structures from natural CD effect, which limits our understanding of the magnetic material/polymer hybrid structures. This paper aims to introduce a general strategy of averaging out the magnetic linear dichroism (MLD) contributions due to the anisotropic structure and disentangling MCD signal(s) from natural MCD signal(s). We demonstrate the effectiveness of separating MCD from natural MCD using rotational MCD measurement and presented the results of a sample with Co thin film on polymer Scotch tape (unplasticized polyvinyl chloride) glued on a quartz substrate. We demonstrate that the proposed method can be used as an effective tool in disentangling MCD and natural MCD effects, and it opens prospects to study the magnetic material /polymer hybrid systems.

Effects of microplastics on growth, phenanthrene stress, and lipid accumulation in a diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Most laboratory studies have focused on the effects of nanoplastics instead of plastics at the micrometer scale, which are the major microplastics (MPs) discarded in marine environments. Knowledge on the potential effects of micrometer scale plastics on marine microalgae remains limited. It remains unknown whether the micrometer scale plastics also affect microalgal growth, lipid accumulation and resistance to organic contaminants? In addition, the role of polymer-size on the potential hazardous effects of MPs on microalgae is unknown. In the present study, cell populations of a marine diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, were treated with micrometer scale polyethylene (PEMP, 150 μm) and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVCMP, 250 μm) powders in the laboratory. Growth was assessed using a hemacytometer and neutral lipid concentrations were evaluated using the Nile Red staining method under short-term (four days) and long-term (nine days) exposure. The effects of combined PEMP and phenanthrene (Phe), and uPVCMP and Phe exposures over four days on growth were investigated. Importance scores and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were calculated to assess the contributions of seven factors in exposure systems to the hazardous effects of MPs on microalgae using a machine-learning prediction based on 165 data sets. Both MP types did not influence algal growth and lipid accumulation but minimized algal inhibition by the action of Phe at four days. In addition, lipid accumulation was induced at nine days. Both importance scores and SHAP values indicated that MP polymer-size was the key factor influencing MP toxicity in microalgae. In conclusion, MPs had adverse effects only in chronic tests and the potential adsorption of MPs could have led to the lower levels of toxicity in a combined MP–Phe exposure system. Compared to nanoplastics, MPs in the hundred-micrometer range do not significantly affect growth and their adsorption would not be influenced by size. Therefore, MP size is the most critical factor that should be considered in future laboratory tests and eco-toxicological risk assessments for microalgae.

Toxicity of microplastics and natural particles in the freshwater dipteran Chironomus riparius: Same same but different?

Microplastics (MP) are contaminants of emerging concern in aquatic ecosystems. While the number of studies is rapidly increasing, a comparison of the toxicity of MP and natural particulate matter is largely missing. In addition, research focusses on the impacts of hydrophobic chemicals sorbed to plastics. However, the interactive effects of MP and hydrophilic, dissolved chemicals remain largely unknown. Therefore, we conducted chronic toxicity studies with larvae of the freshwater dipteran Chironomus riparius exposed to unplasticised polyvinyl chloride MP (PVC-MP) as well as kaolin and diatomite as reference materials for 28 days. In addition, we investigated the effects of particles in combination with the neonicotinoid imidacloprid in a multiple-stressor experiment. High concentrations of kaolin positively affected the chironomids. In contrast, exposure to diatomite and PVC-MP reduced the emergence and mass of C. riparius. Likewise, the toxicity of imidacloprid was enhanced in the presence of PVC-MP and slightly decreased in the co-exposure with kaolin. Overall, parallel experiments and chemical analysis indicate that the toxicity of PVC-MP was not caused by leached or sorbed chemicals. Our study demonstrates that PVC-MP induce more severe effects than both natural particulate materials. However, the latter are not benign per se, as the case of diatomite highlights. Considering the high, environmentally irrelevant concentrations needed to induce adverse effects, C. riparius is insensitive to exposures to PVC-MP.

Experimental evaluation of an expanded polystyrene (EPS) block-geogrid system to protect buried pipes

This study presents the results of experimental tests carried on buried uPVC (unplasticized polyvinyl chloride) pipes with an external diameter of 160 mm. The behavior of buried pipes in unreinforced and reinforced trenches by a single layer of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) geogrid and expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam block were investigated. To simulate vehicle wheel loadings, 500 cycles of repeated load respectively with an amplitude and frequency of 450 kPa and 0.33 Hz was applied to a loading plate placed over the trench surface. Pipe behavior under cyclic loadings were assessed using vertical diameter strain measurements, circumferential strains and pressures at the crown and springline. Additionally, settlement at the soil surface was measured throughout testing. The testing program is aimed at evaluating the role of different parameters influencing pipe behavior, such as embedded depth of the pipe, implementation of the EPS block and geogrid layer simultaneously and separately, and density, width and thickness of the EPS blocks. The results illustrate that the rate of changes in the pipe circumferential strain, vertical diameter strain and soil surface settlement, which increase rapidly in initial loading cycles, decreased as loading progressed. Based on the results, the density, width and thickness of implemented EPS blocks have an impact role in improving the behavior of buried pipes. The use of geogrid reinforcement with an EPS block with density of 30 kg/m3, thickness of 60 mm and width of 1.5 times the pipe diameter showed the most benefit when balancing vertical diameter strain, pipe crown strain, and soil surface settlement.

The Use of Polymer and Glass Waste to Obtain a Self-Glazing Facing Ceramic

The results of the development of a composition of a mixture based on low-plastic clay, which includes the waste of unplasticized polyvinyl chloride as some combustible additives, the cullet of common window glass as a flux-hardening additive and additionally containing boric acid as a flux, are presented. This composition allows you to comprehensively dispose of two types of consumption waste with obtaining high quality ceramic facing materials. In this case, waste of unplasticized polyvinyl chloride of any degree of purity and destruction can be used. Practical use of the developed composition allows you to expand the raw material base for the production of building ceramics, reduce the cost of products and reduce the environmental load from waste.

Degradation of unplasticised poly vinyl chloride based engineering products upon exposure to ultra violet radiation

Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) is considered as a widely used polymer for various applications. It is durable, inexpensive and resistant to heat, water and chemicals. Additives such as lubricants, heat stabilizers, plasticizers, impact modifiers, fillers and ultra violet (UV) stabilizers enhance its durability and make it suitable for a range of applications. PVC is used for automobile and other sectors in products ranging from piping and siding, blood bags and tubing, to wire and cable insulation applications. Poly vinyl chloride exhibits high sensitivity to UV rays and it is a life time deciding factor specially in outdoor applications. This study was conducted to analyse the degradation behavior of PVC under the UV environment. Commercially available 32mm PNT7 unplasticised poly vinyl chloride (uPVC) pipes were selected for this research. Initially, tensile strength, elongation, hardness and water absorption properties were analysed. Ultra violet ray exposure test was performed for PVC samples to evaluate the photo-degradation behavior at selected UV exposure time periods. Tensile strength, elongation, hardness, water absorption properties and visual inspection tests were performed after the UV exposure test. Scanning electron microscopic images and differential thermal analysis were also used to analyze the degradation behavior. It was indicated a slight reduction of tensile strength, percentage elongation and hardness of samples with increase of UV exposure time. Scanning electron microscopic images of products showed degraded features after UV exposure test. This study revealed that uPVC based products are resistant to photodegradation by UV rays.

Influence of Backfill Soil Saturation on the Structural Response of Buried Pipes

The structural design of new buried pipes and the calculation of the remaining service life of in-service buried pipes are usually conducted assuming that the backfill soil is at the optimum moisture content using the unsaturated soil parameters published by Boscardin et al. (1990). These unsaturated soil parameters are also implemented in the CANDE software, which is a standard software developed for designing buried culverts/pipes. However, intense rainfall seasons, floods, or water table rise due to changes in local drainage conditions may change the state of the backfill soil from unsaturated to saturated conditions. The purpose of this paper is to study the robustness of using the unsaturated soil parameters in the design of new buried pipes and the calculation of the remaining strength of in-service buried pipes by comparing the response of buried pipes for unsaturated and saturated backfill conditions using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Cast iron, concrete, and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride pipes have been considered to address the aim of the study. The results have shown that the soil saturation increases the stresses of the pipe wall, displacement of the pipe, and the soil pressure applied on the pipe. Hence, there is a need to understand and consider the unsaturated/saturated soil mechanics in the design and the analysis of buried pipes/culverts.

Response of buried uPVC pipes subjected to earthquake shake

The earthquake shake has a significant impact on the response of buried infrastructures; however, no study has been conducted on the behavior of buried flexible pipes subjected to earthquake shake. This paper investigates the transverse response of buried unplasticized polyvinyl chloride pipes subjected to transverse earthquake shake. A robust finite element model has been used to conduct this research. The influence of the pipes’ diameter, backfill height, peak ground acceleration, weight of the backfill, location of the rock layer, and predominant frequency of the earthquake has been investigated to provide insight into the seismic response of these buried flexible pipes. The results showed that the earthquake shake significantly increases the pipe wall thrust, pipe wall bending moment, and vertical diameter change. The results also showed that increasing the backfill height or the peak ground acceleration remarkably increases the earthquake response of the buried pipe. In addition, it was found that the weight of the backfill soil does not have a significant impact on the earthquake response of the pipe. However, the location of the earthquake shake is found to have a notable impact on the seismic response of the pipe; the closer the rock layer to the soil surface, the higher the seismic response. Finally, the results showed that increasing the predominant frequency of the earthquake shake decreases the earthquake response of the pipe. The results reported in this research are very useful to manufacturers of plastic pipes, pipeline design engineers, and researchers interested in the response of buried infrastructures.

Mechanical properties of amorphous PEI, PES, and PVC up to 11 GPa studied by Brillouin light scattering

We applied high-pressure Brillouin light spectroscopy to study the mechanical properties of representative amorphous polymers: polyetherimide (PEI), polyethersulfone (PES), and unplasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC). The pressure dependence of optical and elastic properties such as refractive indices and acoustic phonon velocities was obtained by employing both a forward, symmetric scattering and a backscattering geometry up to ~11 GPa. While PEI and PES showed longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonon modes simultaneously at above a certain pressure, PVC showed only one longitudinal acoustic phonon mode, which limited the access to further information. For PEI, PES, and PVC films, we successfully calculated pressure-dependent Poisson's ratios, bulk moduli, shear moduli, Young's moduli, and density-pressure isotherms. Furthermore, by using the Lorentz-Lorenz equation, we corroborated the conventional assumption that the mean polarizability of polymeric materials is nearly constant even when pressure is applied.

Design And Fabrication Of Semi-Automated Lawn Mower

Evolution of early period to the modern period is mainly due to the advancement in technologies. Every field has its own development in their innovations. Agriculture is the major field, where technological advancement is required for the development. Major purpose of our paper is to establish a new kind of Lawnmower. Here we have developed a semi-automated lawnmower which may be a replacement for commercial manual lawnmower that is being used widely .This device doesn’t require any manpower for their operation, it can be operated by an android device. Commercial lawnmowers are bulkier and are not compatible, but this device is compatible and light-weight. Since it is made up of UPVC(Un-plasticized polyvinyl chloride).Generally alternating current or fuels are used as a power source for commercial lawnmowers whereas this device can be operated by means of battery or solar source.

Assessment of Axial Capacity of RC Stub Column Confined with Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe

In recent years, strengthening and enhancement of durability of concrete columns have increased significantly in the medium-rise or high-rise buildings across the globe. Strengthening of a concrete column may lead to the section composite as it uses encasing techniques. In this presentation, instead of post-strengthening of columns, the authors wish to utilize the advantage of composite sectional properties to enhance the durability of the concrete column. In general, steel tubes are extensively used for such purpose in the past decades, as design guidelines are available in the literature and various codes of practice. In the present investigation, reinforced concrete-filled unplasticized polyvinyl chloride pipes are taken up as composite column sections to study its structural behavior, viz. failure pattern, bond strength, confinement, and flexural behavior as it simultaneously improves the response with better confinement along with protecting the same from adverse environmental hazards, as well as to study its effectiveness as low-cost housing. Seventy-two confined (filled) column and 27 unconfined column specimens were tested to investigate the effects of various parameters on the ultimate load-carrying capacity and the load–deformation behavior of the columns. All the specimens are found with localized failure. Concrete column exhibits sudden failure when displacement reached the range of 3.4–6.7 mm. While for the confined reinforced concrete column, it reaches 22.3 mm without sudden failure while retaining its integrity. Detail study shows that ductility of specimens increases with the increase in pipe thickness. Finally utilizing the extensive experimental data and with the help of EUROCODE-4, a mathematical model based on response surface methodology has been proposed for the purpose of predicting the load-carrying capacity of the confined as well as unconfined RC stub columns.

Structural Performance of uPVC Confined Concrete Equivalent Cylinders Under Axial Compression Loads

There is always a need for more durable, ductile, and robust materials for buildings, bridges, and other infrastructure due to the drawbacks of existing construction materials. Some of the drawbacks are the corrosion of steel, the brittle failure of concrete, and the performance instabilities that are caused when exposed to different environments. Thus, an innovative system is required to improve the performance and retain the integrity of structures in a harsh environment. To alleviate the situation, Un-plasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) tubes are used as a confining material and their performance was experimentally evaluated by testing uPVC confined equivalent cylinders. Accordingly, unconfined and uPVC confined equivalent concrete cylinders for five different concrete classes, four types of uPVC tube sizes, and the aspect ratios of two (h/D = 2) were prepared and tested under axial compression loads. The result shows that the uPVC confinement increased the strength, ductility factor, and energy absorption in between 1.28–2.35, 1.84–15.3, and 11–243 times the unconfined levels, respectively. The confinement performed well for lower concrete classes and higher thickness to diameter ratios (2t/D). The post-peak behavior of the stress-strain curve was affected by the 2t/D ratio and the absolute value of the slope decreased as the 2t/D ratio increased. Additionally, the uPVC tube has shown several advantages, such as acting as a permanent formwork, protecting the concrete from chemical attacks, preventing the segregation of concrete, preventing peeling, and taking off concrete cover, decreasing the cross-section, and resulting in lighter sections. The uPVC confinement provided a remarkable improvement on the strength, ductility, energy absorption, and post-peak behavior of concrete. Therefore, uPVC tubes can be used as confining material for bridge piers, piles, electric poles, and highway signboards, where the fire risk is very small, though additional research is required on fire resistance mechanisms, such as wire-mesh reinforced mortar cover.

Impacts of edge seal material on thermal insulation performance of a thermally resistive photovoltaic glazing (TRPVG): CFD research with experimental validation

A novel design of photovoltaic (PV) glazing technology called TRPVG is introduced within the scope of this research, and thermal insulation performance of TRPVG for different edge seal materials is evaluated through a well-known and reliable commercial software ANSYS FLUENT. For a typical TRPVG configuration, CFD results are compared with the experimental data, and a good accordance is achieved. Then, different potential edge seal materials are considered for TRPVG technology in terms of their impacts on thermal bridging and hence overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of entire glazing. Besides the plastic based edge seals, which are widely utilized in fenestration products, thermal superinsulation materials like flexible aerogel are also considered in the research to analyze their potential effects for reducing the U-value range of TRPVG. A recent experimental research indicates a U-value of 1.10 W/m2K in which unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (PVC-U) is considered as edge seal. The U-value from the CFD research for the said configuration is determined to be 1.19 W/m2K, which verifies the accuracy of the numerical analyses. Further investigations reveal that the U-value of TRPVG can be enhanced to 1.13 W/m2K only if PVC-U edge seal is replaced with aerogel. This can be attributed to the competitively low thermal conductivity of PVC-U material (0.19 W/mK) as an edge seal. The predicted U-values of TRPVG are reported to be 1.44 W/m2K for polymer seal, 1.32 W/m2K for glass fiber seal, 1.26 W/m2K for polycarbonate seal, 1.24 W/m2K for polyethylene seal, 1.20 W/m2K for acrylic seal and 1.18 W/m2K for epoxy seal.

Production models of multiple products using a single machine under quality screening and reworking policies

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to formulate two multi-product single-machine economic production quantity (EPQ) models by considering imperfect products. Two policies are assumed to deal with imperfect products: selling them at discount and applying a reworking process.Design/methodology/approachA screening process is used to identify imperfect items during and after production. Selling the imperfect items at a discount is examined in the first model and the reworking policy in the second model. In both models, demand during the production process is satisfied only by perfect items. Data collected from a case company are used to illustrate the performance of the two models. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out by varying the most important parameters of the models.FindingsThe case study in this research is used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed models, i.e. the EPQ model with salvaging and reworking imperfect items. The models are applied to a high-tech un-plasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) doors and windows manufacturer that produces different types of doors and windows. ROGAWIN Co. is a privately owned company that started in 2001 with fully automatic production lines. Finally, the results of applying the different ways of handling the imperfect items are discussed, along with managerial insights.Originality/valueIn real-world production systems, manufacturing imperfect products is unavoidable. That is why, it is important to make a proper decision about imperfect products to reduce overall production costs. Recently, applying a reworking strategy has gained the most interest when it comes to handling this problem. The principal idea of this research is to maximize the total profit of manufacturing systems by optimizing the period length under some capacity constraints. The proposed models were applied to a company of manufacturing UPVC doors and windows.

Experimental Simulation for Load Reduction Techniques on Underground Utilities using Geofoam

This paper investigates an experimental study on reducing stress acting on buried flexible pipes by using expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam techniques. An experimental model was carried out with dimensions depending on pipe diameter (D) and location, the used fill cover material was from sand and EPS blocks either embankment form, or within sand backfill as embedded layer. The pipe flexible is un-plasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC). A series of experiments have been carried out by using static surface loading on rectangular steel plate,where the load is distributed over the backfill. The behavior of sand backfill around the pipe was observed, and the displacement and strains of the pipe were measured. The experimental results showed that the embedded layer of EPS geofoam block embedded in sand for different techniques reduced the deformation of flexible buried pipe, with high efficiency and low coast compared with EPS geofoam only. The results reveal that, the most effective methods thatcanreduce the stress on buried flexible pipe with low cost were EPS encasement block with head void method, and EPS block embraces the upper part of pipe method.

Polymer waste as a combustible additive for wall ceramics production

The research presents the experimental results devoted to the charge composition development for the production of wall ceramic products, based on low plasticity clay using additives. One of the additives is polymer waste in the amount of 15 wt. %, in particular it is unplasticized polyvinyl chloride used as a combustible additive for increasing ceramics porosity thus decreasing its density and consequently the load on the basement when the walls are constructed. Besides it decreases thermal conductivity and improves energy efficiency of developed wall ceramics application. Boric acid is a second additive used as a fuse thus reducing the temperature of ceramics liquid-phase sintering and forming a vitreous phase, which increases the strength characteristics and reduces water absorption, and therefore increases the product frost resistance. However the vitreous phase amount is insignificant and the products still are characterized by porosity sufficient for density and thermal conductivity reduction up to the level of conditionally effective thermal performance. Thus the application of the developed wall ceramics facilitate the production of energy effective products, which can be used for multi-layers walls construction providing modern thermal engineering standards and rational consumption of building materials. Herewith the developed materials properties correspond to the requirements of solid ceramic bricks used in Russian climatic conditions and help to combine the functions of bearing, heat-insulating and partly facing layers to a certain extend thus expanding their application.

A FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING THE RESPONSIVENESS TO DEFECTS VIA SPC AND WORKER EMPOWERMENT

The ultimate goal of the online quality control initiatives is to prevent the occurrence of defects or rather to detect the occurrence of defects as fast as possible in order to interfere with corrective actions. Generally, Statistical Process Control (SPC) tools such as control charts can be effectively applied to monitor the production processes and can be used as an indicator for the occurrence of assignable causes in the process which are mainly responsible for the occurrence of defects. Typically, the out of control signals resulted from control charts or other signs of developing defective items that are observed directly through visual inspection necessitate a rapid response from the shop floor operators. Meanwhile, the lack of worker empowerment and poor communication between shop floor workers and engineers as well as managers are mainly responsible for the late decisions and actions which lead to increased defect rates. This paper presents a framework that integrates SPC approaches with worker empowerment practices to enhance the responsiveness toward detected defects as well as preventing the occurrence of more ones. Besides, a case study concerned with the manufacturing of Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) pipes has been conducted to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework.

Effect of Unplasticized Poly Vinyl Chloride (UPVC) Molecular Weight and Graft-Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (g-ABS) Content on Compatibility and Izod Impact Strength of UPVC/g-ABS Blends

ABSTRACTIn this study three grades of rigid poly vinyl chloride (PVC) having different molar masses were melt blended with graft-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (g-ABS) in different compositions. The effect of PVC molecular weight and g-ABS composition on the compatibility and Izod impact strength of the blends were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed a single glass transition temperature (Tg) for all the blends, representative of miscibility between the PVC phase and the styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) phase of g-ABS which, in turn, led to compatibility of the PVC/g-ABS blends. It was observed that in all the PVC grades the blends Izod impact strength increased with increasing g-ABS content. Also, at a given composition of g-ABS, by increasing the molecular weight of the PVC phase the impact strength of the blends increased. The morphology of the fracture surfaces from the impact tests were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs and the results showed that with increasing g-ABS content in the blend, cloudy regions increased and eventually begin to overlap each other, and the deformed material on the fracture surfaces increased. This was attributed to the blend compatibility causing greater energy dissipation in the fracture process.