Polyester identification tests

Visual and Manual Tests. Synthetic fibers are generally mixed with other fibers to achieve a balance of properties. Acryhc staple may be blended with wool, cotton, polyester, rayon, and other synthetic fibers. Therefore, as a preliminary step, the yam or fabric must be separated into its constituent fibers. This immediately estabUshes whether the fiber is a continuous filament or staple product. Staple length, brightness, and breaking strength wet and dry are all usehil tests that can be done in a cursory examination. A more critical identification can be made by a set of simple manual procedures based on burning, staining, solubiUty, density deterrnination, and microscopical examination. 

Solubility tests permit at least a tentative identification of the components also in polymer blends. Blends of ABS and polycarbonate are soluble in most polar solvents. Solubility in tetrahydrofuran and methyl ethyl ketone demonstrates the absence of polyolefins in such blends and the presence of aromatic polyesters or of polyamides can also be excluded. On the other hand, generally they may contain such highly soluble polymers as polystyrene, PVC, ABS, or polymethacrylates. However, blends that contain polybutylene terephthalate or polyethylene terephthalate do not dissolve in the usual solvents, but require m-cresol, which can he a clear indication that aromatic polyesters are present. Polyolefins dissolve at high temperatures, at least 110 °C, in toluene and p-xylene, and this behavior is characteristic of blends that contain polyethylene or polypropylene. 

The finite element description of the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of technical fabric was presented by Klosowski et al. [65]. The technical fabric called Panama used in this model was made of two polyester thread families woven perpendicularly to each other with the 2/2 weave. The long term uniaxial creep laboratory tests in directions were conducted at five different constant stress levels. The dense net model [66] together with the Schapery one-integral viscoelastic constitutive model [67] was assumed for the fabric behavior characterization and the least square method in the Levenberg-Marquardt variant was used for the parameters identification. 

It is, however, possible to make a positive identification as to the class of polymer (such as polyolefine, polyamide, polyester, etc.) to which a given sample belongs, by carrying out some simple tests and correlating their results. 

---