Structural order in oriented PVC mouldings

The structural changes occurring upon drawing and annealing of compression and injection mouldings of commercial poly(vinyl chloride) were studied by wide-angle X-ray diffraction. Low temperature drawing appears to lead to a reduction in 3-dimensional order and an increase in oriented 2-dimensional order. The degree of order of drawn and annealed PVC depends on draw ratio, annealing temperature and the restraint during annealing. The maximum in 2-dimensional order occurs on annealing at 110°C. Tensile yield stress is significantly increased by the drawing process and it was shown that the anisotropy of this mechanical property decreased upon annealing. This could not be explained by the reduction in amorphous orientation alone. Electron microscopy of the fracture surfaces shows a structure which appears to be related to the drawing and annealing process.