STRESS CORROSION CRACK GROWTH OF HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE WITH CRACKED ROUND BAR SPECIMEN IN CHLORINE MEDIUM

In this study, the stress corrosion crack (SCC) growth model for the cracked round bar (CRB) specimen was developed. The axisymmetric crack layer (CL) theory for simulating the slow crack growth (SCG) behavior of CRB specimen was modified to consider the chemical degradation due to diffused aggressive environment. The diffusion of oxidative fluid into the process zone (PZ) in radial direction is considered. Also, the chemical degradation kinetics of PZ materials due to the oxidation were modeled. The proposed model was shown that the discontinuous SCG behavior and the deteriorative effect from the chemicals were successfully simulated.