Environmental stress cracking of polyethylene

Abstract

Abstract The stress cracking of polyethylene was studied under various experimental conditions, and the importance of the effect of both crystallinity and molecular weight of the polymer was established. Many of the variables were investigated, such as the thermal pretreatment of the sample, temperature of the sample, surface tension, and concentration of the stress‐cracking agent, and the magnitude of the stress. The importance of this test procedure and the relationship that exists between the stress cracking of polymers and between similar problems affecting nonpolymeric systems have been analyzed. Some microscopic studies of stress cracking have also been made.