The Double Yield in the Tensile Deformation of the Polyethylenes

JUAN CARLOS LUCAS; MARCELO D. FAILLA; FL SMITH; LEO MANDELKERN; ANDREW PEACOCK

POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 1995 vol. 35 p. 1117 - 1123

0032-3888

Double yields, as well as other complex yielding behavior, that are observedduring the tensile deformation of the polyethylenes have been studied in a systematicmanner. The conditions under which such yielding is observed were established by studying a set of linear polyethylenes and well-characterized ethylenecopolymers of narrow molecular weight and composition distributions. A widerange in crystallinity levels were developed and the rate of deformation and thedeformation temperature were varied. These experimental results make clear whysuch complex yielding processes are not always observed. A qualitative explanation,based on the postulate of a partial melting-recrystallization process duringdeformation, is given that encompasses all of the experimental data.