| Abstract: | The present study deals with changes of welded material of pipes and fittings (isotactic polypropylene homo and copolymer PP-R grey pigmented) during the standardized internal pressure tests, which are commonly used for these products. Technical welding of polyolefines causes characteristic structures, which depend on the natural of the welded material and the welding conditions. In this investigation both the transition of material in the welding seam and the changes of internal stresses during internal pressure tests at 95°C until 18.100h test time were examined. The methods we used were Differential calorimetry of think layers, Polarization- and Electron microscopy, Fluorescence spectroscopy with extreme high local resolution. The effects of decomposition of the macromolecules in the welded samples during the internal pressure tests will be described in a separate paper (1). The internal pressure tests at 95O C cause a recrystallization and an increase of the particle size in the structure of the welding seam and in the structure of the welded parts themselves. Under the above described testing conditions the orientations and internal stresses initiated by the welding procedure will relaxe influenced by heat. However the creep effects that occur in the material when exposed to pressure introduce new internal stresses. It could be shown that in perfectly welded parts a continuous transition from PP to PPCO occurs, which did not change after long time application of internal pressure tests. |
