The effect of water on some properties of oriented nylon

Abstract

Samples of 66 nylon were oriented by rolling to produce structures in which the polymer chains are preferentially in the machine direction and the hydrogen bonds are in the transverse direction. Conditioning to 50 or 100% relative humidity (R.H.) produces anisotropic swelling with the transverse direction expanding much less than the other two directions. The dependence on temperature of the tensile modulus in the machine and transverse directions was examined for specimens which were dry, conditioned to 50% R.H., and saturated with water. At high temperatures, the modulus was larger in the transverse direction. At-40°C, it was larger in the machine direction and increased with increasing moisture. The data are interpreted in terms of crystals which have their largest dimension in the hydrogen bond direction.