Production of Polyethylene Fibers and their Optical Properties and Radial Differences in Orientation

Abstract

An apparatus was designed to produce polyethelene fibers of varying diameters ranging from 40 to 220 μm. The diameter of the produced fibers was measured from the forward scattering of a He-Ne laser beam at 632.8 mm. The Becke line method was used to measure the refractive indices of the outer layer of the fiber (skin). Interferometric methods were applied for the determination of the refractive index of the inner layer of the fiber (core) and the mean refractive indices of the fiber for light vibrating parallel and perpendicular to its axis. Also a technique, based upon an analysis of the back-scattered light when a laser beam impinges perpendicular to the fiber axis, was applied to deter mine the mean refractive index. The measured values are presented and found to be in agreement with those of the interferometric methods.