Polymer Durability: Aging Mechanisms and Accelerated Testing

This lecture covers the three key requirements for predicting durability in polymers, including the importance of material knowledge and the development of scaling techniques. It delves into oxidation mechanisms, accelerated aging conditions, aging laws, activation energy determination, and the Arrhenius time-temperature equivalence. The coupling between oxidative degradation and stress, thermal transitions, and the Q10 rule are also discussed. Case studies on accelerated aging of polyamide 6.6 and the Arrhenius prediction method are presented, along with recommendations for testing conditions. The lecture concludes with insights on outdoor and indoor accelerated aging, emphasizing the importance of realistic testing conditions and sample representativeness.