The aim of this work is the evaluation of thermal and photo-oxidative degradation of the terpolymer acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, ABS, used in internal automotive components. Injection molded specimens were aged by ASTM D794, ASTM G24 and ASTM G53 standards. The aged test specimens were studied by means of dynamic mechanical analysis and non-contact atomic force microscopy. The results revealed that the transitions of the glass and rubber phases were affected by the degradation. The area under linear loss modulus-temperature curves was related to tensile properties in function of the aging time and standard test method. The degradation of the matrix had a higher influence on the mechanical properties. Both, PB and SAN phases, were more affected when the ASTM G24 standard test method was used. Microscopy images showed that the different ageing methods cause different changes on the surface roughess. The results showed that an ABS that had lost 50 % of rupture elongation has this property almost regenerated (90 %) after being reprocessed.
ABS; degradation; mechanical properties; recycling
