Performance of elastomers for high-pressure applications

Bernd Christian Schrittesser

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

Abstract

Compared to metals, polymers are a very young material class. Hence, their behavior in boundary areas is still under discussion and in some cases even outstanding. Due to the unique properties of elastomers, these materials are widely used in industrial, transport, land, sea and even space applications. In terms of the implementation of elastomers for the oil and gas industrial practice, a specific failure called rapid gas decompression occurs during the application of high temperature, various gases and high pressure. In the worst case, this failure leads to the complete fragmentation of the cartridge seal and the safety shutdown of the whole facility. To improve the sustainable and economic material development for these operation conditions, the gain of the material knowledge is indispensable. For this reason, this study focuses on the accumulation of information concerning the material performance of hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubbers. Basically, two tendencies were investigated during the examination of the different experiments. The first tendency focused on the influence of the acrylonitrile content on the mechanical, fracture and the rapid gas decompression performance. Within the second analyzed trend, experimental materials filled with different glass beads were introduced to simulate process imperfections in the polymer matrix. Additionally, the mechanical, fracture and rapid gas decompression behavior was also investigated to explain the rapid gas decompression performance. Within the evaluation of different fracture mechanic test setups and different specimens, the classical tear strength measurements, using angle specimens, seemed best suitable to correlate the rapid gas decompression performance of the material. Based on the autoclave test, the influence of different process parameters was also examined. Overall, clear tendencies using different saturation pressures, temperatures, gases and varying decompression rates were recorded and discussed. Comparing the different experimental materials and testing methods, different damage models were developed to deepen the know-how about these materials and enhance a prospective simulation of the rapid gas decompression process.
Translated title of the contributionVerhalten von Elastomeren in Hochdruckanwendungen
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDr.mont.
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Pinter, Gerald, Assessor A (internal)
  • Major, Zoltan, Assessor B (external)
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Bibliographical note

no embargo

Keywords

  • HNBR
  • rapid gas decompression
  • fracture under high pressure
  • effects of defects

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