ROLE OF RECOVERY FORCES IN DEFORMATION OF LINEAR POLYETHYLENE

In the light of the finding that the deformation of linear polyethylene is associated with the development of recoverable strain, a technique has been developed to determine the magnitude of the recovery forces. The difference between the applied force and the recovery force represents the effective force which acts on the anelastic processes and a consideration of the kinetics of deformation suggests that the anelastic process consists of the co-operative movement of a number of molecular segments. The extrapolated yield point appears to be associated with the effective force and has no particular structural significance, in that it corresponds merely to the point of maximum curvature in the relationship between effective stress and rate of deformation. © 1978 Chapman and Hall Ltd.