The influence of drawing temperature on mechanical properties and organization of melt spun polyethylene solid-state drawn in the pseudo-affine regime

Mechanical properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE) solid-state drawn with fixed draw ratio at different temperatures in a fiber/tape spin line were investigated. All drawing experiments were performed in the pseudo-affine regime, i.e. no effective relaxation of the molecules occurs during drawing. For such conditions, the Young's modulus is uniquely determined by the applied draw ratio. The general appearance of the stress-strain behavior of drawn HDPE, and in particular its yield strength, however, is strongly influenced by the stretching temperature applied. For a fixed draw ratio, a significant drop in yield stress can be observed with decreasing drawing temperature. Characterization of structure and organization of the solid-state drawn HDPE was performed using various analytical techniques, such as wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is proposed that solid-state drawing at temperatures above the α-relaxation temperature results in relative large crystals so that corresponding tapes show a high yield point. Drawing at low temperatures below the α-relaxation temperature of PE, however, causes formation of small or imperfect crystals that can be destructed at low stress (low yield point), which is a preferable start situation for a second solid-state drawing step in a multiple drawing process.