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High‐strength uniaxially drawn tapes from scrap recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Author(s) -
Morawiec J.,
Bartczak Z.,
Pluta M.,
Galeski A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.11296
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , extrusion , necking , shore durometer , plastics extrusion , deformation (meteorology) , bottle
We made an effort to develop a manufacturing process for high‐strength packaging straps from recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) beverage bottles. High‐strength tapes from low‐viscosity bottle‐grade PET cannot be obtained by single drawing to a natural draw ratio because the strength of such tapes is below expectation. To increase that strength, we developed a double‐drawing process, consisting of a second drawing step after free drawing with the natural draw ratio. The second stretching of tapes proceeded without necking and uniformly over the entire tape length. The extrusion/stretching was performed on the laboratory line, consisting of a single screw extruder, a chill roll, two sets of slow and fast rolls separated by a heating tunnel, and wind‐up roll. The tape drawn to a total draw ratio of 6 had a tensile strength slightly below 700 MPa and an initial slope of ≈ 15 GPa. Strain‐induced crystallization was the origin of strong texture after single drawing, whereas plastic deformation mechanisms of crystals were activated in the second step of drawing: the (100)[001] chain and (100)[010] transverse slips led to clear further refining of (1¯05) X‐ray pole figure. Industrial scale up of the double drawing delivered tapes with strength slightly below 700 MPa. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 1426–1435, 2002