Abstract
The effects of hydrostatic pressure up to 3000kg/cm2 on the mechanical properties of polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, nylon 6 and epoxy resin were investigated. The yield strength increased linealy with increasing pressure for all the polymers investigated. The elastic modulus was little affected by pressure except epoxy resin. With increasing pressure, the elongation decreased for polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate and nylon 6, while it increased for epoxy resin. The strain rate effect on the tensile properties was also investigated for polycarbonate and nylon 6. A linear relationship was found to exist between the yield strength and logarithmic strain rate both under a high pressure of 2000kg/cm2 and atmospheric pressure. It was considered that there may be a possibility of predicting the pressure dependence of the mechanical properties of polymers from the temperature dependence of those through the pressure dependence of their glass transition temperature at least for polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate and nylon 6. Further study is needed for epoxy resin.
