| Abstract: | The thermal stability of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) should be paid attention in its applications, although the fiber has excellent flexible tensile properties. The measurements for two kinds of UHMWPE fibers, Dyneema SK65 (The Netherlands) and ZHF (Beijing, China), were carried out at different annealing temperatures and for different aging times. Experimental and regression analysis results showed that the aging behavior of the fibers followed an exponential attenuation with the annealing temperature and aging time. The critical temperature for the safe use of the fibers was equal to or lower than 70°C and depended on the glass‐transition temperature; this was validated by tensile tests. The difference between the two fibers in the thermal properties resulted from the intrinsic supermolecular structures of the two fibers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 310–315, 2005 |
