PLASTICITY AND ANISOTROPY EVOLUTION IN CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

Large-plastic deformation and texture evolution in a wide class of crystalline polymers, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), Nylon-6, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and polypropylene (PP), are simulated. The crystal lattices of HDPE, Nylon-6, PET and PP are low symmetry in nature and are orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic and monoclinic respectively. The polymer crystals deform mainly by crystallographic slip. Attention is given to the lack of five independent slip systems in the crystalline phase of these polymers. In this study, we neglect the contribution of the amorphous phase to plastic deformation. A modified Taylor crystal plasticity model is employed to simulate the crystallographic texture evolution in the crystalline phase of these polymers subject to plane strain and uniaxial compression. Comparison between simulated crystallographic textures and experimental data shows good agreement.