Study on the Aging Mechanism of Aerospace Plexiglass by Ultraviolet

Abstract As the main material of aircraft windshield glass, the safety and reliability of aviation plexiglass are very important. YB-3 aviation Plexiglass was used as aircraft windshield material for a four-seater electric aircraft developed in China to explore the mechanism of ultraviolet aging. The artificially accelerated aging test of YB-3 aviation plexiglass was carried out, and the mechanical and thermodynamic system of YB-3 aviation Plexiglass after aging was studied. Through the thermogravimetric dynamic analysis, it is to explore the internal aging mechanism of PMMA photolysis materials, and combined with the mechanical test data to quantitatively and qualitatively reveal the aging law of YB-3 aviation plexiglass under ultraviolet radiation. The results show that the tensile ultimate stress decreases from 72.74 MPa to 45.63 MPa when the aging time reaches 1440 h. During the aging process, the elastic modulus decreased from 4.45 GPa to 3.68 GPa and then increased to 4.12 GPa. The results show that the photolysis of YB-3 aero-plexiglass under ultraviolet radiation first results in the fracture of the polymer and then the production of small molecules, which leads to the decrease of tensile resistance and the improvement of thermal stability of the material.