Electron beam irradiation effects on the structure and mechanical properties of PEEK. Part 1

TL;DR

This study investigates how electron-beam irradiation affects the structure and mechanical properties of PEEK, revealing ambiguous effects on mechanical performance and no change in crystal structure.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of electron-beam processing on PEEK's properties, especially regarding amorphous component transformation.

Findings

Wear rate varies with irradiation, increasing in some samples and decreasing in others.

No change in crystal structure detected by XRD after irradiation.

Mechanical property changes are likely due to amorphous phase transformation.

Abstract

Effects of electron-beam processing on the structure and mechanical properties of poly-ether-ether ketone (PEEK) were studied by XRD and tribological tests. An ambiguous change in the mechanical properties of the irradiated samples was found. In particular, the wear rate of sample 1 is higher than that of the unirradiated original sample, while it is lower for samples 2-7. Sample 4 had the lowest wear rate, and most likely the changes in the mechanical properties of the samples were due to the transformation of their amorphous component. Comparison of the X-ray spectra of the irradiated and unirradiated samples did not reveal any differences in their crystal structure.