A New Method for Continuous Solid-State Biaxial Orientation of Polymeric Films

A new laboratory-scale method for continuous solid-state biaxial deformation of polymer materials is introduced. The tabletop biaxial drawing tool utilizes a heated metal disc-like triangular mandrel, which allows for continuous solid-state biaxial deformation of a precursor polymer tube with a controlled drawing speed. The new biaxial drawing tool features two independent heating zones. The main mandrel sets the biaxial drawing temperature. In addition, directly after the mandrel, an annealing unit with a separate heating zone is added for better control of important process parameters, such as post-relaxation and strain-induced crystallization. As such, the new biaxial drawing tool is a tabletop analogue of the industrial triple-bubble process. Finally, a detailed theoretical model describing the deformation field and the forces needed to perform biaxial drawing as a function of the biaxial drawing ratio is presented and compared to experimental values, using isotactic polypropylene as model material. (c) 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020, 58, 352-362