• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.138-143
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• 2013

This paper studied the possibility to predict a mechanical property variation from changes in created carbonyl bands by irradiating the surface of high-density polyethylene with short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation of 254 nm to induce a fast chemical degradation. The meaning of this study lies in checking whether a mechanical property change with the same chemical property as the induced optical deterioration is caused by using a UVC lamp with high photon energy instead of optical deterioration via xenon arc light source and outdoor exposure test via natural sunlight requiring a long time. The mechanical strength of high-density polyethylene checked by a tensile test and a creep destruction test showed a similar tendency with CI changes. In particular, the yield strength and elongation had a close relationship with the exposure time to ultraviolet radiation. Accordingly, this paper presented a method to grasp the mechanical property change outdoors requiring a long time more fast through the relationship between the mechanical property change and the carbonyl index using a UVC lamp causing the fast surface degradation.