17th International Fiber and Polymer Research Symposium

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Enhancing Mechanical Properties of Polyethylene Fibers by Changing Process Conditions

Authors :

Almu'atasim Salameh¹

1- TEMAG - Textile Materials & Machinery Research Group, Istanbul technical University

Keywords :

Polyethylene،melt spinning،molecular orientation،reinforcement fiber،performance fiber

Abstract :

Polyethylene fibers have the potential to provide an economical alternative for some applications, including reinforcement in composite materials. In order to achieve that, altering the process conditions was investigated in this study with LDPE. The melt spinning system used here has an addition to the conventional systems, which is the addition of a viscous regime (bath) that imposes drag forces on the fiber -mid process- in order to increase its molecular orientation. The system not only proved to be successful in reducing the fiber diameter, which reflects the elongation affect, but also, succeeded in increasing the tensile strength of the fiber. Three process parameters were used to control the production; spinneret temperature, bath temperature, and take-up speed. No drawing was applied to the fibers, which implies a potential for further enhancements to the performance. The slow quenching and low viscosity of the polymer seems to be the main contributors to the resulting molecular structure, since high spinneret and bath temperatures produced superior fibers, while low temperatures imposed too high stresses on the fiber, ultimately leading to poor performance.