AbstractPolycarbonate injection moldings have been conditioned for various times in (i) hot water (40, 60, 80, and 100°C) or (ii) in a temperature gradient (with hot surface/cold surface temperatures 80/25, 100/25, 120/35, and 140/60°C). Water absorption occurred in hot water and caused the formation of disc‐shaped flaws, which were located at all depths within the bars and at all orientations. The presence of the flaws caused severe embrittlement and cracks were nucleated by them during uniaxial tensile testing. Residual stress levels were found to be diminished by hot water conditioning more than those in bars conditioned at the same temperatures in air. The sense of the residual stresses reversed in a bar that was allowed to cool slowly in the water bath, an observation attributed to desorption. It was generally found that the flaws near the surface healed on allowing the bars to stand in air at room temperature. Temperature gradient conditioning caused reversal of the sense of the residual stresses near to the hot surface at the two higher temperatures used and significant reduction in magnitude at the lower temperatures. Fracture nucleated at this surface during uniaxial tensile test
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