International Polymer Processing, Vol.16, No.4, 388-397, 2001
Orientation and mechanical properties of extrusion cast PA 12 films in biaxial stretching process
The levels in biaxial orientations and mechanical properties of stretched extrusion cast polyamide 12 films were investigated with birefringence, wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) pole figure and mechanical testing. Introduction of a pseudo-orthogonal crystalline symmetry enabled the calculation of White-Spruiell biaxial orientation factors using WAXD pole figure data. The orientation was uniaxial or biaxial depending on the stretch ratios along two principal stretching directions that are the machine direction (MD) and the transverse direction (TD). According to the WAXD pole figure patterns, planar alignments of hydrogen bonded layers were formed with respect to the film surface from most of the stretched films. Balanced stretching at higher stretch ratios enhanced the planarity. It was found that the mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at break) of the films had a close correlation with the out-of-plane birefringences.