….when you are young you only want to go as fast, as far, and as deep as you can in one subject - all the others are neglected as being relatively uninteresting. But, later on, when you get older, you find that nearly everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough. – Feynman
1 2 3 4 5 Pull thin polymer rod in tension Get alignment of crystalline regions
Polymer fibers have aligned crystalline regions - alignment gives greater strength to fiber
Polymer fibers have aligned crystalline regions - alignment gives greater strength to fiber Kevlar is highly aligned
Breaking strength of polymer fibers (tenacity) measure denier (wt. in grams of 9000 meters of fiber) run tensile test
Tenacity also increases w/ chain length - fewer crystal defects
Stress/strain characteristics of polymers Polymer stiffness, strength and toughness vary over extraordinary range
Stress/strain characteristics of polymers Polymer stiffness, strength and toughness vary over extraordinary range Due to structure - ranges from purely amorphous states to chain folded semi-crystalline to highly oriented (fibers)
Stress/strain characteristics of polymers Polymer stiffness, strength and toughness vary over extraordinary range Due to structure - ranges from purely amorphous states to chain folded semi-crystalline to highly oriented (fibers) Polymers plastically deform readily, esp. if temp raised (often less than 1000C )
Stress/strain characteristics of polymers Glassy polymer or semi-crystalline polymer Stress x below Tg ( s ) Semi-crystalline polymer x above Tg x Rubber Strain ( e )
semi-crystalline polymers Yielding in flexible semi-crystalline polymers Flexible semi-crystalline polymers such as polyethylene (Tg of amorphous domains is below rm temp) usually display considerable amount of yielding if not stretched too quickly Stress Yield Point Strain
Relaxation Yielding due to relaxation Time dependent molecular transition or rearrangement, such as change in conformation of a chain, crystalline slip, chain sliding, usw.
Yielding in rigid polymers Stress Yield Point Strain Rigid polymers usually don't have yield point May yield by crazing
Crazing Microscopic cracks form perpendicular to applied stress
Crazing Microscopic cracks form perpendicular to applied stress Tiny fibrils span cracks - hold material together
Crazing Microscopic cracks form perpendicular to applied stress Tiny fibrils span cracks - hold material together Polymer whitens
Polymers aren’t very stiff
Stiffness dictated by structure
Stiffness depends on crystallinity crosslinking Tg
For fibers, stiffness depends on draw ratio
Tensile strength
Glass transition temperature (Tg)
Glass transition temperature (Tg) Molecular wt.
Glass transition temperature (Tg) Chemical structure
Glass transition temperature (Tg) Chain stiffness
Glass transition temperature (Tg) Chain stiffness
Glass transition temperature (Tg) Bulky side groups
Assignment: Review today's classnotes a. fiber strength b. tenacity c. stiffness d. yielding, relaxation, crazing e. tensile strength f. Tg