A MACROKINETIC APPROACH TO CRYSTALLIZATION APPLIED TO A NEW THERMOPLASTIC POLYIMIDE (NEW TPI) AS A MODEL POLYMER

The application of a new macrokinetic approach to polymer crystallization is applied in this work to a new thermoplastic polyimide (New TPI) recently developed as a matrix of advanced polymer matrix composites. The slow crystallization kinetics presented by New TPI in the entire range between the glass-transition temperature and the melting point makes TPI an excellent model polymer for testing crystallization models. In the approach presented here the variation of the induction time with the temperature is included in the Nakamura model for nonisothermal crystallization, and a simplified expression of the kinetic constant as a function of the temperature is adopted. The proposed model is verified through a comparison with a complete set of experimental data, ranging from the melting point to the glass-transition temperature of the polymer, obtained in isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. Moreover phase transformation diagrams (TTT and CCT plots) are presented, providing a fundamental tool for understanding the crystallization behavior of semicrystalline matrices and to determine the more appropriate processing conditions. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.