Mechanical anisotropy in oriented high-density polyethylene

Abstract

The mechanical anisotropy of high-density polyethylene sheets of different lamellar texture has been measured over a wide range of temperatures. The results confirm the assignment of the α relaxation to an interlamellar shear process and suggest that interlamellar tie molecules or intercrystalline bridges also play an important role in determining the elastic anisotropy. The results are compared with previous measurements on lowdensity polyethylene, and are discussed in terms of the seriesparallel model and on the basis of interlamellar shear.