Mechanical Reinforcement of Polyamide 6 by Cold Hydrostatic Extrusion

Monika Skorupska; Mariusz Kulczyk; Sylwia Przybysz; Jacek Skiba; Jan Mizeracki; Joanna Ryszkowska

doi:10.3390/ma14206045

Mechanical Reinforcement of Polyamide 6 by Cold Hydrostatic Extrusion

Materials (Basel). 2021 Oct 13;14(20):6045. doi: 10.3390/ma14206045.

Authors

Monika Skorupska¹, Mariusz Kulczyk¹, Sylwia Przybysz¹, Jacek Skiba¹, Jan Mizeracki¹, Joanna Ryszkowska²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (Unipress), Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland.
² Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, ul. Wołoska 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

This paper presents the effect of severe plastic deformation obtained using the cold hydrostatic extrusion (HE) method on the mechanical and structural properties of polyamide 6 (PA6). As a result of the plastic strain, a significant increase in ultimate tensile strength and tensile modulus were observed. Tensile strength rose by almost 500%, up to the level of 508 MPa, whereas the tensile modulus rose by about 65%. Flexural modulus increase was also observed to 3230 MPa, i.e., by approx. 160%. As a result of high plastic deformation, the structure of the polyamide 6 changed significantly, as evidenced by its fibrous nature as presented in the results of the scanning electron microscopy inspection (SEM). The surface quality of products investigated was tested using profilometry.

Keywords: cold hydrostatic extrusion; mechanical properties; polyamide 6; structure.