Failure of Polycarbonate (PC) Bottle

Note: the following analysis and its write-up are property of The Madison Group and cannot be copied
and/or distributed in anyway without prior permission from The Madison Group. This analysis in no way
suggests that any or all plastic failures occur in the manner described. Each plastic failure is unique and
should be treated as such.

Failure Analysis Using SEM and Analytical Tools

SEM or Scanning Electron Microscopy is used to perform an in-depth analysis of the fractured surfaces.
This analysis is also known as fractography. A fractography allows us to locate the initiation site of the
crack as well as details about how the crack propagated during failure.

The crack's initiation site is an important

step in determining the root cause of
failure, such as:

 high-stress region or at a stress

concentration point
 presence of impurities, air
entrapment or voids caused
during manufacturing
 presence of a knit-line or weld
line
 indication the plastic was is
contact with a chemical or
foreign substance
 indication of environmental
stress cracking (ESC) where
chemical solvation is combined
with stress loading (stress can
 be external or internal from
residual stress)
 evidence of fiber breakage or
poor bonding between fibers
and matrix
 absence of fibers

Analyzing how the crack propagated

during failure can help define the mode
of failure, such as:

 brittle or ductile failures

 fast or slow crack growth
 identification of crack growth
direction

fatigue cracking

Case study: Failure of Polycarbonate (PC) Threaded Bottle

Figure 1: PC bottle threaded region (10x)

PC bottle

Fractography Analysis
The first picture is a cross-
section view of the bottle's
threaded region taken in an
optical stereomicroscope at a
10x magnification. The failed
surface is gold sputter coated
to increase the resolution of the
fractography under the SEM.
Figure 2 is at a 50x
Figure 2: SEM of threaded region (50x)
magnification taken under the
SEM. Here multiple crack

Figure 3: SEM of threaded region (mid section at 900x)
origins are observed along the
inner diameter of the threads.
The material exhibits smooth
features typical of brittle
fracture. Within the mid-wall
there is a significant amount of
secondary cracking. At high
magnification (Figure 3, 900x)
the crack surfaces show a
significant degree of wrinkles.
These wrinkles are the result of
absorption or solvation of
constituents from the bottle's
fluid into the part. The
fractography analysis
concluded that the fracture is
characteristic of environmental
stress cracking (ESC). ESC is
a phenomenon caused by the
combination of stress and a
chemical substance. The
extensive secondary cracking
and the evidence of chemical
absorption suggest that some
of the ingredients in the fluid
may be inherently aggressive
to PC. Contributing factors to
failure are the inherent stress
concentration regions at the
root of the threads. The grade
of PC influences how resistant
the plastic is against chemical
substances. A PC with a higher
melt flow rate is more
susceptible to chemical
absorption than one with lower
melt flow rate. The reason is
that a lower melt flow rate
plastic has a higher molecular
weight and longer molecular
chains. Longer chains do not
allow chemicals to solvate into
 the plastic as easy as shorter
chains.

Analytical Analysis -
Thermomechanical
Analysis (TMA)
TMA tests were
conducted to
determine the level of
molded-in stress in
the threaded region. It
was believed that an
important cause of
stress at the threaded
region were molded-
in stresses produced
during manufacturing. Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA) results
TMA measures
dimensional change
as a function of
temperature. High
levels of stress can
appear in the form of
an anomalous
expansion and
contraction of the
material about the
glass transition
temperature. The
threaded regions
were heated from
room temperature to
165C. The samples
showed a contraction
onset near the glass
transition temperature
with a secondary
expansion before the
final contraction. This
secondary expansion
is evidence of a mild
level of molded-in
 stress, however the
level is not sufficient
to be a major
contributing factor in
the observed failures.
This suggests that
some combination of
the chemicals and
tightening stresses
are the more
important factors that
give rise to the
cracking in the
threaded region of the
parts.

Material Substitution
It is frequent when material grades are substituted during production. The designer specifies a low melt
flow material, but the molder uses a higher melt flow grade. A possible reason is that the molder is trying
to reduce costs by using a high melt flow grade that is faster to mold. While the molder is reducing cycle
time they are reducing the cost of each part. At the same time, even though the part is still made out of
PC, the PC grade is of lower quality and it is more susceptible to ESC, chemical attack and has lower
impact properties. This trend of changing material grade during molding is becoming more of a factor,
specially with the recent trend of outsourcing. Material substitution is also a factor especially when parts
are molded overseas where material quality may vary from the original material specified during part
design.

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