Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the tensile strength of polymer materials

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the tensile strength of amorphous, crystalline, and thermosetting polymers has been investigated. The maximum hydrostatic pressure was 2000 kgf/cm². The surfaces of some specimens were protected from the ambient medium (oil). The tests showed that hydrostatic pressure improves the strength or high-elastic limit and Young's modulus of all the materials investigated. In the case of brittle materials, the increase in strength is greater if the surface is protected, whereupon the plasticity is also improved. Hydrostatic pressure produces important changes in the deformation behavior of crystalline polymers.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 1043–1047, 1967