A study of stress relaxation phenomena in linear polymers at low temperatures

• Main Author: Rye, Robin Tilley Brooke
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2012
• Subjects: Polymers; Nylon; Rayon; Polymerization
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/40558

Stress relaxation experiments have been carried out on single filaments of nylon, viscose rayon and acetate rayon over the temperature range 0°C. to -80°C. Similar experiments were also performed on viscose rayon yarns immersed in water at 35°C. In these latter experiments, a marked change in the shape of the stress relaxation curve was noted as the strain was decreased. At strains of the order of 0.05% the relaxation curve had the shape characteristic of a single Newtonian Maxwell element, while the curve obtained at higher elongations could not be explained in terms of a single such element. It was concluded that the flow process involved was non-Newtonian in character. The low temperature results, as well as those obtained previously by Price (20) are discussed In terms of Eyring's hyperbolic tangent equation for describing stress relaxation. === Science, Faculty of === Chemistry, Department of === Graduate