Structural Interpretation of Eyring Activation Parameters for Tensile Yielding Behavior of Isotactic Polypropylene Solids

Abstract

The temperature and strain rate dependence of the stress-strain curves of isotactic polypropylene were analyzed on the basis of Eyring kinetic theory. The molecular and structural basis underlying the parameters, such as activation volume and activation energy, used by the Eyring analysis were studied using the lamellar cluster theory, where a stacked lamella acts as a basic structural unit under yielding and necking deformation. It was suggested that, at lower temperatures, the activation volume corresponds to chain slippage within crystalline lamellae in the lamellar clusters whereas at higher temperature the increase in activation volume results in intralamellar slip corresponding to the α2 relaxation.