Radiation effects in polystyrene

✍ Scribed by Donald E. Kline

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1961
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 337 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1961.070051410

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Amorphous polystyrene was subjected to nuclear radiation in doses ranging from 1.2 × 10^10^ to 3.8 × 10^11^ ergs per gram. At low temperatures the internal friction of the highly irradiated polystyrene was greater than that of the unirradiated material, and beyond the glass transition, which begins near 370°K., the irradiated sample remained a solid and the internal friction decreased. Below 370°K. the dynamic modulus of the highly irradiated material scarcely differed from that of the unirradiated sample, while beyond 500°K. it was rather high (near 10^5^ psi). At low irradiation doses crosslinking occurred sufficient for the formation of a nonliquefying, three‐dimensional network in the polystyrene, but no changes in the dynamic mechanical properties attributable to irradiation could be detected.