Micromechanical characterization of the interphase layer in semi-crystalline polyethylene
Name
Mechanical characterization of the interphase layer in semi-crystalline polyethylene 07-01-2013.pdf
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Author(s)
Ghazavizadeh, Akbar
Rutledge, Gregory C.
Atai, Ali A.
Ahzi, Said
Remond, Yves
Soltani, Nasser
Date Issued
June 2013
Journal
Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
Citation
Ghazavizadeh, Akbar, Gregory C. Rutledge, Ali A. Atai, Said Ahzi, Yves Remond, and Nasser Soltani. “Micromechanical Characterization of the Interphase Layer in Semi-Crystalline Polyethylene.” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys. 51, no. 16 (June 20, 2013): 1228–1243.
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
The interphase layer in semi-crystalline polyethylene is the least known constituent, compared to the amorphous and crystalline phases, in terms of mechanical properties. In this study, the Monte Carlo molecular simulation results for the interlamellar domain (i.e. amorphous+ interphases), reported in (Macromolecules 2006, 39, 439–447) are employed. The amorphous elastic properties are adopted from the literature and then two distinct micromechanical homogenization approaches are utilized to dissociate the interphase stiffness from that of the interlamellar region. The results of the two micromechanical approaches match perfectly. Interestingly, the dissociated interphase stiffness lacks the common feature of positive definiteness, which is attributed to its nature as a transitional domain between two coexisting phases. The sensitivity analyses reveal that this property is insensitive to the non-orthotropic components of the interlamellar stiffness and the uncertainties existing in the interlamellar and amorphous stiffnesses. Finally, using the dissociated interphase stiffness, its effective Young's modulus is calculated, which compares well with the effective interlamellar Young's modulus for highly crystalline polyethylene, reported in an experimental study. This satisfactory agreement along with the identical results produced by the two micromechanical approaches confirms the validity of the new information about the interphase elastic properties in addition to making the proposed dissociation methodology quite reliable when applied to similar problems.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23319
