STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF EXTRUDED POLYETHYLENE FILM

A series of low‐density polythylene extruded films was examined quantitatively by the birefringence, infrared dichroism, and x‐ray pole figure techniques. The birefringence ranges from mildly positive to mildly negative with increasing severity of quenching conditions. The x‐ray data show that the birefringence is largely due to the contribution of oriented crystallites, the amorphous orientation being quite low. The crystal orientation functions suggest equal degrees of a and c axis orientation parallel to the machine direction at low quenching rates, and increasing a axis orientation as the quenching rate increases, coupled with a shift in the c axis from parallel to perpendicular orientation. These results are confirmed by infrared dichroism data. The relative degree of a and c axis orientation ultimately reached is intermediate between that predicted by Keller's type I and type II models, but approximates the orientation previously observed in laboratory films prepared by oriented crystallization at 100% elongation. The crystalline orientation may be explained by the modified row orientation structure of Keller and Machin. However, the data can also be reconcilled with that of spherulitic entities observed in samples crystallized at 20‐50% stretch. It is suggested that these spherulites may possess a combination type II and screw dislocation morphology in the equatorial and polar regions, respectively. Such a structure differs from the row structure in that the latter implies that the amount of polar material is negligible compared to the equatorial material. It is recognized, however, that orientation data cannot unambiguously decide between these alternatives. Copyright © 1969 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.