Microstructures and mechanical properties of polypropylene/polyamide 6/polyethelene-octene elastomer blends

A series of polymer blends were designed and manufactured. They are composed of three phases: polypropylene (PP), polyamide-6 (PA6) and polyethylene-octene elastomer (POE) grafted with maleic anhydride. The weight fraction of PA6 was adjusted from 0 to 40% by increments of 10%, and the weight fraction of POE was systematically half that of PA6. The morphology, essentially made of PA6 particles dispersed in the PP matrix, was characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In the extruded plates prepared with the blends, the shape of the dispersed PA6 particles showed an elongated ellipsoidal shape, whose aspect ratio increased somehow with alloying content. The POE modifier was observed both as a thin interlayer (less than 100 nm thickness) at the PP/PA6 interface, and as a few isolated particles. The elastic modulus and yield stress in tension are nearly constant for PP and blends. By contrast, the notched Izod impact strength increases very much with alloying content. This remarkable effect is interpreted in terms of POE interphase cavitation, enhanced plastic shear deformation and resistance of PA6 particles to crack propagation.     

Dynamic mechanical properties and morphology of high‐density polyethylene/CaCO3 blends with and without an impact modifier

Dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were used to investigate the relaxations and crystallization of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) particles and an elastomer. Five series of blends were designed and manufactured, including one series of binary blends composed of HDPE and amino acid treated CaCO₃ and four series of ternary blends composed of HDPE, treated or untreated CaCO₃, and a polyolefin elastomer [poly(ethylene‐co‐octene) (POE)] grafted with maleic anhydride. The analysis of the tan δ diagrams indicated that the ternary blends exhibited phase separation. The modulus increased significantly with the CaCO₃ content, and the glass‐transition temperature of POE was the leading parameter that controlled the mechanical properties of the ternary blends. The dynamic mechanical properties and crystallization of the blends were controlled by the synergistic effect of CaCO₃ and maleic anhydride grafted POE, which was favored by the core–shell structure of the inclusions. The treatment of the CaCO₃ filler had little influence on the mechanical properties and morphology. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3907–3914, 2007     

Rheology of polypropylene in the solid state

The tensile behaviour of a commercial grade of isotactic polypropylene was tested in a temperature range between 20 and 150 °C with a video-controlled testing system which is capable of imposing a constant true strain-rate within the neck automatically. The results are displayed in the form of effective stress-strain curves and modelled by a constitutive equation in a multiplicative form. It is thus shown that, for each temperature, the plastic response can be described up to very large strains ( 2.0) by a set of four parameters. The assumptions introduced in this modelling are critically discussed in order to check the validity of the simplifying hypotheses (strain homogeneity, isochoric deformation, etc.). The constitutive equation thus obtained was utilized in a finite difference code in order to predict the development of stretching instabilities of polypropylene. The simulation gives access to the engineering stress-strain response of the stretched test piece and to the detailed kinetics of the incipient neck. It is found that the severity of the instabilities is less at room temperature than near the melting point because of the decrease of the strain-hardening and of the strain-rate sensitivity with temperature.     

Yield and transient effects during the plastic deformation of solid polymers

Tensile tests were performed on seven commercial polymers at 22° C and at constant true strain rates of 10^–4 to 10^–1 sec^–1. The constant strain rates were imposed on the minimum section of each sample with the aid of a diametral transducer, an exponential function generator and a closed-loop hydraulic testing machine. The polymers investigated were: high and low density polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polypropylene. polyvinylchloride and polyamide 6 and 66. True yield drops were observed in the rigid glassy polymers, whereas yielding was more gradual in the semi-crystalline or plasticized polymers. Strain rate change tests were also performed, during which one order of magnitude increases and decreases were imposed on the specimens. Normal transients were observed at small strains in the samples containing a rubbery phase, while the transients were of an inverse nature in the samples containing a glassy phase. With an increase in the strain at which the change was initiated, the normal transients changed in character to inverse. Transient tests were also performed in which straining was interrupted to permit a period of stress relaxation or of holding in the unloaded condition prior to the resumption of straining. A quantitative model is proposed, based on the dynamics of plastic waves which accounts for the transition from normal to inverse transient behaviour with increasing strain, and also explains the opposite effects of stress relaxation and of specimen unloading on the restraining transients.     

Formation and elimination of voids during the processing of thermoplastic of matrix composites

The mechanisms of void formation and elimination during the stamping process of a polypropylene/glass fiber composite have been infestigated as a function of temperature, pressure, and time. Experiments were performed in a temperature and pressure controlled chamber, equipped with a rapid cooling facility. Samples of the composite as well as model polypropylene specimens containing calibrated voids were held at 200°C at different levels of hydrostatic pressure (1,10,100, and 300 bars), for a period of either 1 or 10 min. The speciments were subsequently characterized by denstiy measurements and morphologival observation. It was shown that: i) the expansion of the composite observed during the heating at 200°C under atmospheric pressure is largely induced by the gases previously dissolved in the polymeric matrix, ii) the rapid increase of the pressure during the stamping process leads to the closing of voids and, iii) the final holding under high calculation of void growth and shrinkage is in agreement with the morphological observations.     

Plastic deformation of low‐density polyethylene reinforced with biodegradable polylactide,Part 1: Microstructural analysis and tensile behavior at constant true strain‐rate

Blends of low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and polylactide (PLA) were prepared by melt coextrusion. The plastic behavior of the LDPE/PLA blends was investigated at room temperature under uniaxial tension by means of a video‐controlled system. The constitutive behavior was analyzed in terms of the variations of true stress vs. true strain at constant true strain rate. With increasing concentrations of PLA, the blend show: (i) higher Young's modulus, (ii) stiffer viscoelastic response, (iii) increase of elastic limit stress, and (iv) earlier fracture. Particular attention was paid to the evolution of the volume strain with the applied strain. While dilatation begins very lately for the neat LDPE, the LDPE/PLA blends show increasing deformation damage as the PLA content is increased. Scanning electron microscopy of deformed specimens shows that cavitation occurs preferentially at the poles of the PLA particles whose adhesion to the LDPE matrix seems very weak despite the partial grafting of polyethylene chains with maleic anhydride. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Plastic deformation and damage of polyoxymethylene in the large strain range at elevated temperatures

The deformation behaviour of polyoxymethylene has been studied in plane strain compression at temperatures from 120 °C up to 165 °C and in uniaxial tension and simple shear at 160 °C for strain rates from 10⁻⁴ to 1 s⁻¹. In uniaxial tension the stress-strain behaviour was determined by a novel video-controlled testing system. The measurements showed that there was a very significant evolution of volumetric strain, indicating that damage mechanisms play a key role in the plastic deformation behaviour.All tests showed similar deformation stages with a short region of visco-elastic behaviour followed by a rounded yield point. The von Mises equivalent yield stress for these tests showed a linear relationship with logarithmic strain rate, suggestive of an Eyring type thermally activated process. After yielding, all stress-strain curves showed a long plastic deformation regime, which in shear occurred at constant stress. In plane strain compression there was also only a very small increase in stress, in contrast to uniaxial tension where very significant strain hardening was observed at high strains, which is attributed to the onset of structural changes.     

Effect of microstructure on crazing onset in polyethylene under tension

The influence of microstructure on dilatation onset is analyzed in polyethylene (PE) under tension. Tests are performed by means of a video‐controlled testing system that gives access to true stress σ₃₃—true strain ε₃₃ curve and records volume strain ε_v during stretching. The results indicate that the strain ε (and the corresponding stress σ) from which viscoplastic dilatation begins depends on microstructural properties of PE. At microscopic scale, materials having a low ε are characterized by inhomogeneous deformation mechanisms leading to pronounced crazing phenomena in amorphous layers. On the contrary, materials having a high ε involve homogeneous deformation mechanisms that limit crazing. These observations are discussed on the basis of crystallinity and tie molecules density. A simple model predicting ε is developed from these microstructural aspects. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Volume strain changes of plasticized poly(vinylidene fluoride) during tensile and creep tests

The volume strain changes of plasticized poly(vinylidene fluoride) during tensile and creep tests were characterized. A negative volume strain was observed. This phenomenon was ascribed to compaction taking place during mechanical testing, which further delayed the onset of plastic instability and, therefore, the cavitation process. It was suggested that this compaction was caused by the orientation of amorphous chain segments leading to material densification. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1784–1791, 2004     

Constitutive viscoplastic behavior of amorphous PET during plane-strain tensile stretching

Plates of polyethylene terephtalate (PET) were prepared by an injection-compression process such that the initial microstructure was almost completely amorphous. Specimens machined from these plates were subjected to plane-strain stretching experiments by means of an original video-controlled testing system (VidéoTraction^TM) that gives access directly to the intrinsic stress-strain behavior at constant strain rate above the glass transition temperature. True strain was controlled from the current distortion of an array of ink dots printed initially onto the samples. Drawing was performed at 5 × 10^?3, 1 × 10^?3 and 5 × 10^?4 s^?1. The stretching behavior has revealed a marked strain hardening, which increases drastically at large strain. Furthermore, the influence of temperature on the strain rate sensitivity coefficient was determined in the glass transition by means of a special technique based on mechanical spectroscopy. The true stress-true strain constitutive behavior of PET thus characterized was analyzed in terms of a theoretical model using viscoplasticity and finite chain entropic hyperelasticity. Parameters of this model, especially those describing the ultimate stretching response, are correlated to the strain-induced crystallization of the PET samples upon stretching, which was assessed by DSC measurements.