Issue 30

G. Pitarresi et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 30 (2014) 127-137; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.30.17 129 All tested samples in this work have been in-house prepared by cast molding. The following subsections describe the preparation and physical-mechanical characterization of the samples in more details. Preparation of samples and plan of experiments The resin system was prepared by mixing a monomer base: 2,2-bis[4-(glycidyloxy)phenyl]propane (DGEBA) and a 4,4' diamino-diphenyl sulfone (DDS) curing agent. A stoichiometric amount of DDS was fully dissolved into the DGEBA monomer by mechanical stirring for 30 minutes at 130°C. The resin blend was cast into a rectangular mould surface (250×250 mm 2 ) made of a polished steel, previously treated with a Marbocote TRE45ECO release agent. The mould was laterally bounded by depositing two beads of acetic silicone. This allowed the curing at high temperature and easy release of the cast resin plate, which also presented a clear and uniform transparency, fundamental for the implementation of transmission Photoelasticity. An optimized curing cycle was applied consisting of a permanence at 180 °C for 2 hours, cooling to room temperature and post-curing by resting at 200°C for 2 hours, followed by a slow cooling to room temperature in 24 hours. Between the curing and post-curing stages, the resin plate was cut into small rectangular samples of nominal dimensions of 30×8×3 mm 3 . These dimensions in particular were compliant with the SENB samples in ASTM D5045 [18], and with the requirements for the DMTA tests. The post-curing cycle was performed on the un-cracked rectangular beams, and was able to completely relieve any initial residual stresses from the material. All the implemented characterizations have been performed on the above mentioned rectangular beams, which were all cut from the same manufactured panel. Tab. 1 summarizes the tests performed and the number of samples tested. Characterization Number of Samples Testing Condition Type of Sample Gravimetric 3 entire aging cycle un-cracked DMTA (2) (2) (2) (PC) (48h) (S) un-cracked PSA 2 entire aging cycle un-cracked PSA 2 entire aging cycle SENB Fracture Toughness (5) (5) (5) (PC) (48h) (S) SENB Table 1 : Characterization methods and relative number and type of tested samples. PSA stays for Photoelastic Stress Analysis, and indicates the acquisition of three images (see the subparagraph on PSA). PC stays for postcured (not aged), 48h stays for aged in the thermal bath for 48 hours, and S stays for saturated. Hydrothermal conditioning Aging conditioning of the samples consisted in their immersion in a bath of deionized water, kept at constant 80 °C. The samples were taken out of the conditioning environment at regular times to perform the gravimetric and photoelastic (non-destructive) tests, and the DMTA and fracture toughness (destructive) tests. The time needed to weigh the samples and to acquire the photoelastic images was of the order of few minutes. This short interval time did not affect the absorption kinetic and stress state of the samples. Gravimetric and Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyses Samples were weighed on a 0,01 mg resolution electronic balance. The sample surface was gently wiped out of superficial water before weighing. Weight measurements have been taken throughout absorption up to 1320 hours. Results are presented in terms of relative mass change versus the square root of time, t , with the relative mass change defined by: relative mass change :  100  t i i W W W   (1) where w is the weight and the subscript i indicates the initial weight and t the actual weight. The Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA) was performed on a Rheometric Scientific DMTA V, in a single cantilever beam arrangement at a heating rate of 10°C/min. The tan   versus temperature curve is in particular considered, with the values of T g approximated as the temperatures corresponding to peaks.