Ask the Expert: Residual Gas Analysis
RGA is ideally suited for process development, sealing quality control, studying long-term outgassing of the enclosed materials inside the components, and for product qualification.
Polymer Case Study: Molded In Stresses
Used to create custom plastic designs, thermoforming is a manufacturing process that includes heat, vacuum, and pressure to form plastic sheets into three-dimensional molded shapes. Thermoformed packaging is created for the food, pharmaceutical and electronics industries.
Case Study
Cracks were observed in transparent thermoformed plastic packaging during routine visual quality checks. The failures were occurring in specific material lots that may have corresponded with a reported equipment change.
Analysis
A comparison was made between known good and known bad lots to investigate the root cause. Based on DSC, the bad lot exhibited an endothermic peak near the glass transition in the initial heating cycle that was absent in the good lot. This peak is an enthalpic recovery peak associated with molecular relaxation. Samples were examined under a strain optical polarimeter at a specific location on the thermoformed parts.
Result
The images revealed significant differences in the birefringence patterns, suggesting a higher level of residual stress in the bad lot. High residual stresses imparted during the thermoforming process were likely responsible for the cracking issue.
Failure Analysis of Polymers
For more than 50 years, scientists and engineers at Eurofins EAG have investigated and resolved product failures for clients. Our team of experts identify key failure indicators and follow them to the root cause.
Polymeric Materials Evaluated at EAG
Failure analysis of plastics, thermosets, and rubber materials is commonly performed on finished products and typically involve comparative analysis between failed and non-failed samples. Once the potential root cause is identified, experiments can be designed and conducted to test the hypothesis and recreate the failure in the laboratory. Eurofins EAG can evaluate a variety of polymer types, including:
- Raw materials in polymer formulations
- Adhesives (heat/moisture/UV-cured, silicones, epoxies, acrylates)
- Coatings (functional or decorative)
- Thermoplastics, thermosets, thermoplastic elastomers, composites
- Molded, extruded, cast components
Eurofins EAG Laboratories offers a full suite of analytical techniques to evaluate the identity, composition, morphology, topography, and rheology of polymeric materials and components.
- Chromatography: GC, GC-MS, HPLC, IC, LC-MS, Pyrolysis GC-MS, HS/TD/SPME GC-MS
- Inorganic Identification and Quantification: ICP-MS, ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, XRD, XRF
- Physical Testing: Contact Angle, Mechanical Testing, Rheometry, Viscometry
- Spectroscopy: Ellipsometry, FTIR, NIR, NMR, Raman, UV-Vis
- Surface Analysis: Auger, SEM, TOF-SIMS, XPS
- Surface Metrology: AFM, Nanoindentation, Profilometry
- Thermal Analysis: DMA, DSC, RGA, TGA, TGA-IR, TGA-MS, TMA
Contact Our Team
Call +1 800-366-3867 or email us.
Related Resources
- Webinar: Analytical Investigations of Plastics and Polymers
- Webinar: Characterization of Plasma Altered Polymer Surfaces
- Application Note: XPS Analysis of Surface Modified Polymers
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Off-Odor Memory Foam
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Weathering Polymeric Films
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Blistering Paint
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Cracking of Molded Components
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Curing Issues with Silicone Adhesive
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Delamination of Food Packaging
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Environmental Stress Cracking of a Polycarbonate Part
- Blog: Polymer Case Study: Incompatible Contaminant
- Service: Polymer Chemistry
- Technique: Smart Chart
- Industry: Chemical Testing
- Industry: Consumer Electronics Testing
- Industry: Medical Devices
- Brochure: Failure Analysis of Polymers
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