The microstructure of polypropylene welds as a guide to processing history

The well known occurrence of different crystalline forms in polypropylene and their easy recognition in the polarising microscope has provided a method of analysing the behaviour of this material during the production of hot plate welds. The different thermal behaviour of the α- and the β-forms of crystalline polypropylene allows estimation of the thermal history of the polymer in the region of the weld. In particular it is possible to estimate the amount of material actually melted by contact with the hot plate. The effect of the original crystalline microstructure of the components being welded on the microstructure of the recrystallised material forming the weld bond has also been explored. It is possible to characterise the general crystalline texture in the weld bead in terms of the shear and thermal history of the material. The influence of pre- and post-welding annealing of the polypropylene has been investigated and a difficulty is encountered in explaining an apparent ‘memory’ of β-form crystallisation which conflicts with established x-ray diffraction results.