Studies on the stretching of polypropylene film. I. Two-step biaxial stretching

A polypropylene film was stretched at 100–160°C., quenched to room temperature, and then restretched at the same temperature perpendicularly to the first stretching. The reorientation behavior was investigated by using optical and x-ray methods. During the restretching the monoaxial orientation caused by the stretching is converted into a new monoaxial orientation through a balanced state, where n_pp = n_ps < n_ss. The more or less parallel orientation to the film surface of the polypropylene molecules, brought about by the first stretching, proceeds further on restretching. n_ss is a linear function of the degree of stretching in area v_A. The inclination of this line is independent of the type of deformation, stretching, or restretching, provided the temperature is kept constant. At 160°C. the plot of n_ss versus thickness is less steep than it is at 100 or 130°C. The overall reorientation apparently proceeds according to Kratky's first deformation law. The x-ray pattern of a res?tretched film is a four-point diagram which indicates the existence of a pair of reorientation axes inclined symmetrically against the stretching axis. The inclination grows larger with restretching, and the axes merge into the restretching axis at extreme restretching. This phenomenon is less pronounced when the restretching is carried out at higher temperatures. The density of the restretched film is determined mainly by the stretching temperature, but extreme restretching has a tendency to lower it very slightly.