TESTING Residual Stress Testing for Transparent Polymers Even parts that are well designed can fail if poor processing conditions produce improper orientation and residual stresses. Manufacturers need reliable, practical stress-testing methods. LL MEDICAL PLASTICS manufacturing process- s—ineluding injection molding, extrusion, vacuum forming, and machining —inherent- ly introdu sometimes have an intentional and highly de- sirable purpose, asin the ease of biaxially oriented films, whose carefully designed orientation enhances ‘mechanical properties. In other products, residual (or “Trozen- in’) stresses can be a problem, reducing end-use performance and resulting in nereased serap and rejects. When high levels of tin a part, impact strength is lowered, high- temperature performance is diminished, and environmental stress residual stresses, These stresses stress are pr cracking becomes more prevalent. EFFECTS OF RESIDUAL STRESS Distortion from Stress Relaxation. Stress relaxation results in deformation and improper fit during product assembly and is direct cause of a deterioration in product appearance and of ul- timate product failure. Frozen-in stresses become real loads ap. plied to the material upon exposure ofthe pur to sli temperatures. Medical manufacturers often do no this problem exists until parts are subjected to sterilization or hi t-sealing processes. ‘Cracks. Cracks in a material are the most visible result of rated by the pres- ence of solvents, but can also appear when a molded product is restrained and cannot relax to a shorter, stress-free dimension. Crazi material but ean be triggered by subsequent exposure to chemicals. For imple, styrene parts dipped in kerosene will craze quickly in stressed areas, Proper annealing can minimize these stresses and excessive residual stress. Cracks are ac js the appearance of many fine microcracks across a This condition may not be evident during production prevent crazing Deterioration of Optical Performance. Clear plastics are used extensively in the production of lenses parencies. Residual stresses introduce birefringen ‘metry ofthe index of refraction able to focus properly. Even a hampers optical properties and product performance. ‘Changes in Mechanical Properties. Oriented polymers have nd optical trans- hat can make a plastic lens un small level of birefringence Alex S. Redner and Barbara Hoffman Figure 1. Medical packaging with excessive residual stress- @s (top) and the same type of package after annealing has substantially reduced stresses (bottom). di Drawing, form orientation stresses in the pat that can lead to property chang rent mechanical properties than their annealed counterparts ind cooling procedures ean and do introduceTESTING Figure 2. A polariscope will reveal stresses in transparent parts. (Model SY-2000, Strainoptic Technologies Inc.) An extruded polymeric tube or sheet has a certain inherent tear strength; maximum elongation inherently creates anisotropy in the material, resulting in a decrease of performance in the un- stretched direction. If processed at 100 low a temperature, the part can shorten in the machine direction and thicken in the cross-machine direction, HOW TO EVALUATE RESIDUAL STRESS Evaluation of orientation and birefringence ‘can help processors identily potential field fal ures. For example, examining a transparent molded product under polarized light will re- veal where stress or orientation has been creat- cd inthe product due to flow pattems and shrink age in the mold. This test is often employed to check areas of potential weakness in a complex part. During production, itis important for pro- ‘eessors 10 check residual stresses periodically in the run to verify that processing conditions have not drifted, Photoelastic evaluation is used to make stess- cs visible in transparent parts. Stressed areas of polymers have refractive characteristics: when subject to stress, transparent materials become Figure 3. Stress birefringence can be quantified using a compensator. ‘birefringent. series of multicolored bands orf Viewed with polarized light, stresses appear as a pattern is rich with information (see box on page 112), ‘A simple polatiscope will allow you to view stresses in trans- parent parts. Polariscopes essentially source and suitable polarizing elements. The packages ilustrat- din Figure | were evaluated using the polariscope shown in Fi ure 2. This type of evaluation can be employ distribution ina part or to compare stresses in two identical pars. consist of a white light to survey stress MEASURING BIREFRINGENCE FOR QUANTITATIVE RESULTS Stress-measurement instrumentation can deliver accurate ‘quantitative results that cannot be derived using crossed polar izers alone, Quantitative evaluation is preferred over qualita- tive methods and is far more reliable for quality control. With the right instruments, stress measurement can be easily conducted for transparent parts. Both on- and off-line instrumentation is avaiable for quanti he most ap- tative measurement of birefringence. Determinin, propriate tool depends on the application, the level of accuracy or reproducibility required, and the level of operator skill A simpletest can be accomplished usi Jarimeter equipped with a compensator wedge. The operator adjusts the wedge position until a black fringe appears at the measurement point, as shown in Figure 3 Asscale on the compensator supplies a quantitative reading of ‘optical retardation, ‘The procedure for measuring retardation/birefringence using ‘a compensator isa standard test method described in ASTM D 4093 and isa particulary effective quality control test for cle plastics, The procedure is nondestructive, requiring no chemicals polariscope or po- a type of calibrated of layer removal. In addition, results are fast, enabling proces- sors to make on-line adjustments as needed. ‘ADVANCED TESTING APPROACHES. Sophisticated computer-based inst cially available for applications that require very f results, or for those situations in which automated inspection isTESTING WHAT MAKES STRESS VISIBLE? ‘When a transparent material is subject to stres, it be- ‘comes birefringent. Tat is, light propagates through the material at two different speeds, V, and Vy, and has two values of index of refraction, andny, suck that = V,/C and n, = VC, where Cis the speed of ight ina vacuum, ‘When a polarized light wave is transmitted through a re- sion containing streses (0,0 direction), the light will split into “slow” and “fast” waves. As a result of their dif- ferencein speed orbirefringence (n,n, these waves will separate. Their relative distance (of “eiadation,” Ris re- lated tothe prineipal stresses or strains and the thickness (n,m) hae (6, -0,)F and R= (0, -0,) x1xF. Inthis relation, Fis the material stress constant, which char- acterizes the stress-related properties of the material and will vary for different materials. This constant is known for ‘most commonly used materials ‘Another polarizing filter called an analyzer causes the ‘ovo emerging waves to interfere. The observed color pattern is the result of their constructive or destructive interference. Each time the relative retardation equals a multiple integer of wavelength, a destructive interference will occur, and an ‘sochromatic (or equal color) fringe order N is observed. Different colors, therefore, represent different stress levels, in which retardation R = fringe order Nx wavelength i, ‘The observed color fringes are simply level lines ofcon- stant stress, with N=, 1, 2, ete, along a fringe. The wave- Tength 2. for white-light observation is $70 nm. At the point ‘where two fringes appear, retardation is 2 x 570 or 1140 nm. ‘Measuring the retardation R allows the measurement of the birefringence at any desired location. Birefringence is thus retardation per unit thickness, such that Retardation (R) Bireftingence Figure 4. A PC-based stress scanner for biaxially oriented materials can measure preferred. These systems replace the human observer with com puterized vision systems, PC-based instruments can provide in- formation about retardation, birefringence, and residual stress in ‘transparent films or discrete parts One type of PC-based instrument offers a high level of ac- jc analysis, Using a method known as spectral contents analysis or SCA, such a system ccan quickly and automatically report quantitative retardation, birefringence, or stress for any selected point as well as gen: crating a graph of stress versus position for any scanned lin. ‘While not limited to film applications, tis advanced method is particularly effective for evaluating both uniaxially and bi axially oriented films, Figure 4 shows a system used for Iabo- ratory evaluation of biaxially oriented film. A $0-mm-wide (2 in.-wide) strip of film of any length is placed on the unit's specimen holder. Motor force feeds the ribbon while the mea- surements are obiained at @ preset number of menu-selected points, typically in 20-mm increments. Upon completion of the sean, the results are printed in the form of a graph, and a data file is saved, This compact, self contained instru- ‘ment can be used in the laboratory or on the factory floor, Similar instru mentation is avail- able for in-line in- spection, with the optical scanning heads bolted to @ ‘carriage to scan the film duting the production process. The SCA method can be easily adapted to perform process monitor- ing for real-time process contro. Another method, digital image analysis, employs a digital ‘camera to replace the human observer. This technique is ideal for inspection of optical elements or other annealed parts that exhibit very low birefringence. In ad- dition to supplying measurements for any point or along any scanned line, a digital image analysis system can dis- play a full-field stress map, as shown in Figure 5. Using this feature, inspectors ccan readily identify maximum stress regions in samples, specify retarda- tion/birefringence thresholds, and au: tomatically select or reject parts for quality control Both the SCA and digital image analysis methods are free from opera- tor-to-operator variations and provide guick, accurate, highly repeatable in- formation about residual stresses in transparent parts curacy through speetrophotomet Figure 5. Comparing residual stress in two copolymers using digital image analysis. CALIBRATION AND CERTIFICATION retardation in both normal and oblique paths. (Model SCA-1500, Strainoptic Tech- nologies Inc.) Calibration standards have been inTESTING existence for years for most measurement functions, but until recently these tools have been rare and expensive for stress- measurement applications. Such standards are useful to ver- ify both human and PC-based measurements and to ensure proper alignment of polarimeters and other stress-measure- ‘ment instruments, ‘The most practical tool for calibrating both visual and PC- based stress measurements i a calibrated retarder, which ean exhibit uniform retardation (e.g, 100 nm). The retarder is trace- able tothe National Institute of Standards and Technology and. ccan be supplied with certification documents to satisfy ISO. requirements. Means of Computer Assisted Specval Coatents Analysis." Experimental Mechanies 28.00. 2(1985): 48-153 Redes. AS. "On-Line Biefingence Measurement in Production of Bian- ally Oriented Polymers.” Proceedings ofthe Society of Plastics Engineers ‘Inc, Annual Telical Conference (ANTEC 99), Brookfield, CT: SPE, 198, 198-160. ‘Tallmadge, B. “Finding and Fixing Molded-inSteses before Pars Fa Injection Molding (November 1993): 3-88 Alex S. Redner is president of Strainoptic Technologies Ine (North Wales, PX), a company that supplies stress-measurement Instrumentation as well as consulting and testing services Barbara Hoffman is marketing manager at Strainoptic, respon sible for sales and market development. A commitment on the part of medical manufacturers to ‘evaluating residual stresses in their pars ‘can contribute greatly to improved prod- uct quality and consistency. Stress-free Parts are more likely to maintain their strength, optical clarity, stability, and resistance to environmental stress fac~ tors. For transparent parts, the test meth= ods described here can be performed using inexpensive, nondestructive pro- cedures that can be used either on- or off-line without slowing down pro- duction. The benefits can be significant, since these simple tests can help pro- cessors monitor and identify problems before parts ful If you think stress measurement means looking at your product through crossed polarizers, then THINK AGAIN Remove the results and improve ‘your quality BIBLIOGRAPHY control. ASTM D 4095, Standard Tex Method for Pho toclastic Measurements of Birefringence and Residual Sirains in Transparent or Translucent Plastic Materials. Conshohocken, PA: ASTM. You can improve your QC procedures and cut costs today by integrating a smarter stress measurement system. Our instruments deliver accurate, quantitative results that can't be obtained using crossed polarizers alone. You'll gain precision and traceability. Call for more information today. \Al Strainoptic Technologies, Inc. (Sj 105. W Nonigomery Avenue, North Wales, PA T945 PRA eerrone 25) 661-0100 Fax 215) 600 otiman, BR and Redaer, AS. “How to Measure ‘tess in Transparent Plastics" Plastics Teh ‘24y (November 1998): 68-72 ogtnan, BR and Redner, AS, "Messuring Resi ual Suess in Transparent Pastis.” Medical Plastics and Biomaterials 4 0,1 (1997); 16-27 Rediner, AS. "Photoelastic Measurements by ‘Reprinted trom Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry, March 1999, Copyright © 1998 Canon Communications tLe