The cold drawing of polyethylene terephthalate

Abstract

The cold-drawing behaviour of polyethylene terephthalate has been studied over a wide range of test conditions and polymer constitution. In addition to measurements at different temperatures and strain rates, the influence of pre-orientation, crystallinity and chemical cross-linking was investigated. Although crystallinity and cross-linking altered to some extent the details of the drawing process, the overall pattern of behaviour remained substantially unchanged despite rather severe changes in the microstructure of the polymer.