Structures and Tensile Properties of Magnetically Oriented Liquid Crystalline Copolyesters

Structures and tensile properties were investigated for magnetically oriented commercial thermotropic liquid crystalline copolyesters, Xydar and Rodrun. The orientation dependence and the magnitude of the tensile properties were similar between these two copolyesters. Comparison was made with the results obtained for the mechanically oriented samples of these copolyesters. It was found that the ultimate tensile strength and the elongation at break obtained for the magnetically oriented samples were different from those obtained for the mechanically oriented samples. Structure analyses conducted by means of polarizing microscope and X-ray diffraction showed that the two different orientation methods provide different structures on macroscopic as well as microscopic levels. The difference in the tensile properties could be attributed to the difference in structures.