Solid-state drawing of polyethylenes: The pseudo-affine deformation scheme and aggregate models revisited

An investigation of the influence of solid-state drawing on the orientation and properties of a variety of polyethylenes is reported. As model materials, polyethylenes with rather extreme differences in molecular architecture (i.e. molecular weight, branch content, type of branches) were selected, It is shown that both the birefringence and Young's modulus of the drawn polyolefins are uniquely determined by the draw ratio, independently of the molecular architecture of the polyethylenes and of their morphology prior to drawing. Moreover, excellent agreement is observed between experimental data for the birefringence of drawn polyethylenes and theoretical predictions based on the pseudo-affine deformation scheme, The experimental results reconfirm the usefulness of the pseudo-affine deformation scheme and the aggregate model in the description of the birefringence and Young's modulus of drawn polyethylenes, Moreover, the experimental data support the assumptions on the irrelevance of molecular architecture and morphology on the development of orientation and Young's modulus upon solid-state drawing.