%0 Journal Article
%T On the Vickers Microhardness and Wide-Angle X-Ray Line Width for Characterization of the Oxidative Stability of Poly(ethylene-co-propylene) Pipes
%A Anton Atanassov Apostolov
%J Materials Sciences and Applications
%P 25-32
%@ 2153-1188
%D 2019
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/msa.2019.101003
%X The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the ageing of poly(ethylene-co-propylene) fittings produced by several manufacturers. The fittings were aged for varying times as follows: 0, 2, 13, 23, 45, 106, 225 and 391 days at 100<span style=\"white-space:nowrap;\">&amp;deg;</span>C. In a previous paper, the oxidation induction time (OItime) and oxidation induction temperature (OItemp) were evaluated with respect to every single step of the ageing process <a href=\"#ref1\">[1]</a>. Here, the Vickers microhardness and wide-angle X-ray line width were used for characterization of the oxidative stability of poly(ethylene-co-propylene) pipes. Both the Vickers microhardness and wide-angle X-ray line width as evaluated from a certain reflex of the diffractogram generally increase with ageing for most samples. The higher microhardness is most likely related to higher fragility of the pipes. The increase of the X-ray line width with ageing indirectly proves that reducing the crystallite size as well as increase of the crystallite defectiveness take place.
%K Poly(ethylene-co-propylene)
%K Ageing
%K Microhardness
%K X-Ray Line Width
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=89733