Specification of biaxial orientation in amorphous and crystalline polymers

Abstract

AbstractThe fundamental concepts for specifying orientation in amorphous and crystalline polymers are reviewed. A new set of orientation factors is proposed to represent the second moments of biaxial orientation. The factors are defined both for the chain axis and for three crystallographic axes of an orthorhombic (or pseudo‐orthorhombic) crystal structure. The orientation factors are defined in terms of the angles between the crystallographic axes and Cartesian coordinate reference axes defining the machine, transverse and thickness directions of films. This makes the orientation factors symmetric with respect to the machine and transverse directions unlike the Stein‐Nomura‐Kawai orientation factors which are defined in terms of Euler's angles. A graphical procedure for representing the state of orientation as a point inside an isoceles triangle is described. Methods of measuring the orientation factors are also reviewed. The paper concludes with examples of the application of these concepts to orientation in amorphous polystyrene films fabricated in our laboratories and to crystalline polyethylene samples discussed in the literature.