Tensile properties polymers

In the late 1980s, new fully aromatic polyester fibers were iatroduced for use ia composites and stmctural materials (18,19). In general, these materials are thermotropic Hquid crystal polymers that are melt-processible to give fibers with tensile properties and temperature resistance considerably higher than conventional polyester textile fibers. Vectran (Hoechst-Celanese and Kuraray) is a thermotropic Hquid crystal aromatic copolyester fiber composed of -hydroxyben2oic acid [99-96-7] and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid. Other fully aromatic polyester fiber composites have been iatroduced under various tradenames (19). 

Biaxial Orientation. Many polymer films require orientation to achieve commercially acceptable performance (10). Orientation may be uniaxial (generally in the machine direction [MD]) or biaxial where the web is stretched or oriented in the two perpendicular planar axes. The biaxial orientation may be balanced or unbalanced depending on use, but most preferably is balanced. Further, this balance of properties may relate particularly to tensile properties, tear properties, optical birefringence, thermal shrinkage, or a combination of properties. A balanced film should be anisotropic, although this is difficult to achieve across the web of a flat oriented film. 

Those stmctural variables most important to the tensile properties are polymer composition, density, and cell shape. Variation with use temperature has also been characterized (157). Flexural strength and modulus of rigid foams both increase with increasing density in the same manner as the compressive and tensile properties. More specific data on particular foams are available from manufacturers Hterature and in References 22,59,60,131 and 156. Shear strength and modulus of rigid foams depend on the polymer composition and state, density, and cell shape. The shear properties increase with increasing density and with decreasing temperature (157). 

Tensile Properties. Tensile properties of nylon-6 and nylon-6,6 yams shown in Table 1 are a function of polymer molecular weight, fiber spinning speed, quenching rate, and draw ratio. The degree of crystallinity and crystal and amorphous orientation obtained by modifying elements of the melt-spinning process have been related to the tenacity of nylon fiber (23,27). 

In the pulp and paper industry, anionic and cationic acrylamide polymers are used as chemical additives or processing aids. The positive effect is achieved due to a fuller retention of the filler (basically kaoline) in the paper pulp, so that the structure of the paper sheet surface layer improves. Copolymers of acrylamide with vi-nylamine not only attach better qualities to the surface layer of.paper, they also add to the tensile properties of paper in the wet state. Paper reinforcement with anionic polymers is due to the formation of complexes between the polymer additive and ions of Cr and Cu incorporated in the paper pulp. The direct effect of acrylamide polymers on strength increases and improved surface properties of paper sheets is accompanied by a fuller extraction of metallic ions (iron and cobalt, in addition to those mentioned above), which improves effluent water quality. 

In nonrigid ionomers, such as elastomers in which the Tg is situated below ambient temperature, even greater changes can be produced in tensile properties by increase of ion content. As one example, it has been found that in K-salts of a block copolymer, based on butyl acrylate and sulfonated polystyrene, both the tensile strength and the toughness show a dramatic increase as the ion content is raised to about 6 mol% [10]. Also, in Zn-salts of a butyl acrylate/acrylic acid polymer, the tensile strength as a function of the acrylic acid content was observed to rise from a low value of about 3 MPa for the acid copolymer to a maximum value of about 15 MPa for the ionomer having acrylic acid content of 5 wt% [II]. Other examples of the influence of ion content on mechanical properties of ionomers are cited in a recent review article [7],... 

Another example of favorable synergistic effects in ionomer/homopolymer blends is evident from a study of the tensile properties of blends of an SPS ionomer with PS. Over most of the composition range these two polymers are incompatible. For small additions of the SPS ionomer to PS, TEM studies of cast thin films show that... 

Supply is related to cost. If basic materials become scarce, changes will follow. Thus constraints in the petroleum supply may affect the polymer industry, which is based almost entirely on petrochemicals. We can look for expanded use of paper-based materials to provide factors such as bulk, tensile properties, and thermal resistance combined with the low weights of proper barrier materials. Composites will continue to grow in quantity and complexity. 

Table 7.1 The effect of particulate fillers on tensile properties of poly(ethylene) (filler concentration 25 parts/lOO of polymer by weight)...

Jha A. and Bhowmick A.K., Thermoplastic elastomeric blends of poly(ethyleneterephthalate) and carylate rubber 1. Influence of interaction on thermal, dynamic mechanical and tensile properties. Polymer, 38, 4337, 1997. 

The labor-intensive nature of polymer tensile and flexure tests makes them logical candidates for automation. We have developed a fully automated instrument for performing these tests on rigid materials. The instrument is comprised of an Instron universal tester, a Zymark laboratory robot, a Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer, and custom-made accessories to manipulate the specimens and measure their dimensions automatically. Our system allows us to determine the tensile or flexural properties of over one hundred specimens without human intervention, and it has significantly improved the productivity of our laboratory. This paper describes the structure and performance of our system, and it compares the relative costs of manual versus automated testing. 

The tensile properties (tensile strength, Young s modulus, and elongation) of unoriented, noncrystalline films were investigated for those polymers that formed clear films by solvent casting. The results collected in Table I allowed several general conclusions. 

Polyesters exhibit excellent physical properties. They have high tensile strength, high modulus, they maintain excellent tensile properties at elevated temperatures, and have a high heat distortion temperature. They are thermally stable, have low gas permeability and low electrical conductivity. For these reasons, polyesters are considered engineering polymers. 

Ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymers (EPDM), with their inherent complexity in structural parameters, owe their tensile properties to specific structures dictated by polymerization conditions, among which the controlling factor is the catalyst used in preparing the polymers. However, no detailed studies on correlation between tensile properties and EPDM structures have been published (l,2). An unusual vulcanization behavior of EPDMs prepared with vanadium carboxylates (typified by Vr g, carboxylate of mixed acids of Ccj-Cq) has been recently reported Q). This EPDM attains target tensile properties in 18 and 12 minutes at vulcanization temperatures of 150 and l60°C respectively, while for EPDMs prepared with V0Cl -Et3Al2Cl or V(acac) -Et2AlCl, about 50 and 0 minutes are usually required at the respective vulcanization temperatures, all with dieyclopentadiene (DCPD) as the third monomer and with the same vulcanization recipe. This observation prompted us to inquire into the inherent structural factors... 

Among the main molecular structural variables in EPDMs that are stipulated by catalyst systems and that affect the vulcanizate tensile properties we may mention molecular weight (MW) and MWD, degree of unsaturation (LG=C 1) and its distribution in the polymer, composition (C S) and monomer sequence length distribution along molecular chains, and long-chain branching if present. Effect of... 

Chain stretching is governed by the covalent bonds in the chain and is therefore considered a purely elastic deformation, whereas the intermolecular secondary bonds govern the shear deformation. Hence, the time or frequency dependency of the tensile properties of a polymer fibre can be represented by introducing the time- or frequency-dependent internal shear modulus g(t) or g(v). According to the continuous chain model the fibre modulus is given by the formula... 

The effect of the annealing temperature on the initial modulus is also presented in Figure 20.8. The moduli of monofilaments annealed at 160 °C for 30 min are higher than those of normal monofilaments, because the matrix polymers are recrystallized with a low PHB content, and the LCP molecules in the domain are reoriented with a high PHB content. The thermal treatment of the PHB/PEN/PET fibers can be an effective way to improve the tensile properties, especially the tensile modulus, and high-speed winding may be a promising way to obtain fibers... 

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