Strain-Induced Orientation States and Nucleation of Line Disclinations in a Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polymer Melt

Thermotropic main chain LC polymers represent a new and, with respect to their application, special family of high-tech plastic materials. The stiffening in processing direction oriented mesogenic units in the main chain gives rise to an enormous self-reinforcement in the plastic part. Furthermore, thermal dilatation, distortion, and shrinkage of the LCP resin after processing is so small that geometrically complex, highly precise parts can be produced from these high performance materials. © 1998 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Fed. Rep. of Germany.