World War II Airplane Models Advise Long-Term Behavior of Injection Molded Cellulose Acetate Plastic: Visualizing Stress
نویسندگان
چکیده
On December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy unleashed a surprise aerial attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States Navy immediately launched a program to teach aircraft recognition so that military personnel and civilian spotters could distinguish friend from foe in a split second [1]. Millions of model airplanes representing more than 220 types were produced from injection-molded cellulose acetate plastic coated with matte cellulose nitrate paint between 1942 and 1945 [1]. Seven decades later, many are disintegrating spontaneously and catastrophically. 168 model planes in the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum that were exhibited together for 35 years are being investigated visually, chemically, and mechanically to understand the complex mechanisms of their deterioration. Because injection molded cellulose acetate was introduced in the late-1920s and became popular as recently as World War II, the deterioration witnessed today is a new phenomenon and its complexities remain to be explained. For stewards of cultural heritage, slowing deterioration in this category of plastic is an urgent challenge. For understanding material failure, this is an uncommon opportunity to study multiple objects made by the same technology and relate their long-term preservation to composition, manufacture, and exhibition over a 35-year period.
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