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Analysis of a Blow-Molded HDPE Bottle That Failed by Brittle Fracture
S. G. Luckey, Master’s Candidate, Mechanical Engineering,
J. M. Henshaw, P.E., Ph.D., G.M Eltanany and D.C. Teeters, Ph.D.

A blow molded high density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle (volume 1 U.S. gallon [3.9l]) failed due to cracks in its bottom surface. The bottle had contained a solution used for cleaning heat exchanger coils that contained, among other chemicals, hydrofluoric acid. Failure of the bottle destroyed a set of steel shelves and some associated equipment and necessitated an expensive cleanup. The bottle was examined in order to determine the cause of failure. An unfailed container of the same material and fabrication method was examined in parallel with the failed container to determine differences. These differences would help in establishing the cracked bottles failure mechanism. This analysis is broken into physical observations, mechanical testing, and polymer characterization. The polymer characterization involved differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS), density using a westphal balance, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Failure was attributed to an abnormally high level of crystallinity in the failed bottle, which caused the HDPE to be brittle and crack under a light impact load.