Mechanical behavior of polycarbonate fabricated at different cooling speeds

This comparative study investigates the mechanical properties of polycarbonate in manufacturing conditions of different cooling speed. All experiments were conducted using 0.8 mm thick specimens made of commercial Polycarbonate granule (3 mm), according to the ASTM standard. The test results illustrate that polycarbonate specimens manufactured in fast-cooling (FC) condition exhibit at least five times higher resilience in ambient temperature than those of slow-cooling (SC) condition. However, the resilience of FC polycarbonate specimen quickly deteriorates, as the test temperature reduces to negative 40°C. On the other hand, SC specimens barely changed their tensile properties. Thus, the test reveals that tensile properties of polycarbonate are significantly affected by the cooling speed in the manufacturing stage, and exposed temperature conditions. In this manuscript, the correlations between toughness and yield strength of polycarbonate specimen are summarized and discussed in terms of the cooling conditions and environmental temperature.