The original part was fiberglass/epoxy with the epoxy having a Tg of 84C.
The original part was fiberglass/epoxy with the epoxy having a Tg of 84C.
Something funny is going on with this material given the report is saying they measured a glass transition temperature of ~50C.
I find it odd that the report didn't name the manufacturer of the part, and that the part was not listed on the LAA modification form. There can't be many people selling such parts at airshows, so you'd think the investigators would have been able to find out who made it.
Now I wonder if the previous owner (who installed the new fuel system) printed the part himself, then claimed he bought it overseas to avoid blame.
Polycarbonate shows little change vs pressure [1]:
HDT does, kind of, but that’s already covered by the load being defined for the various conditions. HDT is always defined at a specific load so it also does not change with load (since load is fixed).
As the other comments here noted, it doesn’t exactly mean that the material is safe to use for a rigid part below that temperature, and the transition extends over a range in temperatures, but it does give you a rough idea about the behavior of a material at various temperatures.
Or it was ABS-CF but they forgot to dry the filament /s