Ultra-high modulus polyethylene. 1 Effect of drawing temperature

Abstract

Drawing behaviour and the properties of ultra-drawn high density polyethylene have been investigated as a function of the drawing temperature. An optimum temperature has been found for each type of polyethylene, at which the best drawing behaviour is found. It appears that the temperature range for effective drawing (leading to a high draw ratio and high Young's modulus) depends on the molecular weight and its distribution. The temperature range of the effective drawing is shifted towards higher temperatures for polyethylene exhibiting broader molecular weight distribution and higher weightaverage molecular weight. Ultra-high modulus and transport samples have been obtained by drawing high density polyethylene with broad molecular weight distribution ( M ̄ w M ̄ n ∼ 20 and M ̄ w ∼ 200 000 ) at higher drawing temperatures. It has been found that in the range of drawing temperatures 80–105°C the modulus of this polyethylene is higher for samples drawn at higher temperatures. Transparent samples with draw ratios of 35–40 and with Young's moduli of 600–650 kbar (at room temperature) have been obtained by drawing the polyethylene at 100°–105°C. We conclude that the high molecular fraction in the polyethylene, forming tie molecules in the drawn material, is responsible for the high modulus, while the low molecular weight fraction facilitates alignment of the long chains and retards the internal voiding (whitening) to a very high draw ratio during drawing at the higher temperatures.