Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Flow-induced crystallization”

Le poly(acide lactique), PLA, est un polymère biocompatible et biodégradable, qui peut être produit à partir de ressources renouvelables. En conséquence, il a soulevé une attention toute particulière en tant que remplacement éventuel des polymères à base de pétrole. C’est un polyester aliphatique ayant des propriétés telles que module élevé, haute résistance, biocompatibilité et est donc un matériau prometteur pour diverses applications telles que les implants, l’encapsulation de médicaments et l'emballage. A cause de sa faible température de transition vitreuse, le PLA a une faible résistance thermique et les applications sont donc limitées à celles qui ne sont pas associées à des températures élevées. En outre, ce polymère souffre d'un faible degré de cristallinité. L'augmentation du taux de cristallinité dans de nombreuses techniques de mise en forme, telles que le moulage par injection, est nécessaire. Il y a plusieurs façons d'augmenter le niveau de cristallinité du PLA. Ces procédés comprennent l'utilisation d'agents nucléants, de plastifiants, ou de combinaisons d'agents plastifiants et de nucléation. La cristallisation du PLA à l'état fondu se présente sous deux formes cristallines légèrement différentes connues sous les noms α et α'. Cette étude compare la capacité d'auto-nucléation de ces deux formes cristallines par auto-nucléation. Ceci est réalisé en comparant les températures de cristallisation lors du refroidissement des échantillons préalablement cristallisés à diverses températures, puis de nouveau chauffé à une température dans la plage de fusion partielle du PLA. Dans la deuxième étape, l'effet des paramètres cinétiques et le poids moléculaire du PLA sur l'efficacité de nucléation des PLA phases cristallines a été étudié. Cette partie de l’étude ouvre une nouvelle voie pour comprendre le rôle des modifications cristallines du PLA qui mènent aux conditions optimales pour la cristallisation du PLA. La mise en forme des polymères implique des contraintes de cisaillement et d’élongation, ce qui implique une cristallisation induite par l’écoulement et la solidification qui s’en suit. Les propriétés mécaniques des produits finals dépendent du degré de cristallisation et de la nature des cristaux formés. Par conséquent, l'optimisation du procédé nécessite une bonne compréhension de la façon dont l’écoulement influence la cristallisation. Le type d'écoulement peut jouer un rôle important sur la cristallisation. Par exemple, l'écoulement élongationnel provoque l’orientation et l’étirement des molécules dans le sens de l'extension, comme dans le cas de la mise en forme de fibres et le soufflage de film, en aidant le processus de cristallisation induite par l'écoulement. Une littérature abondante existe sur la ii cristallisation des thermoplastiques classiques induite par l'écoulement. Cela dit, moins d'attention a été accordée à l'effet de l'écoulement de cisaillement et d'allongement sur la cristallisation du PLA. Comme étudié dans la dernière partie de ce document, l'effet du poids moléculaire sur la cristallisation induite par cisaillement du PLA est rapporté. Pour cela, trois différents PLA à faible, moyen et haut poids moléculaire ont été préparés par réaction d'hydrolyse. Ensuite, en utilisant un rhéomètre oscillatoire, l’effet du cisaillement sur la cinétique de cristallisation du PLA a été examiné.
Abstract : Poly(lactic acid), PLA, is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer that can be produced from renewable resources. As a result, it has raised particular attention as a potential replacement for petroleum-based polymers. It is an aliphatic polyester with properties such as high modulus, high strength, and biocompatibility and is thus a promising material for various applications such as implants, drug encapsulation, and packaging. In the wake of low glass transition temperature, PLA has a low heat resistance and its application is limited to those not associated with high temperatures. In addition, this polymer suffers from a low degree of crystalinity. Increasing the crystallization rate in many processing operations, such as injection molding, is required. So far, many routes have been found to improve the crystallinity of PLA. These methods include using nucleating agents, plasticizers, and combination of nucleating agents and plasticizers together. PLA crystallization in the melt state results in two slightly different crystalline forms known as α and α’forms. This thesis compares the self-nucleation ability of these two crystal forms by self-nucleation. This is achieved by comparing crystallization temperatures upon cooling for samples previously crystallized at various temperatures and then re-heated to a temperature in the partial melting range for PLA. In the second step, we study the effect of molecular weight of PLA on the nucleation efficiency of PLA crystalline phases. This part of the investigation opens a new pathway to understand the role of PLA crystalline phases on the optimal condition for its crystallization kinetics. Polymer processing operations involve mixed shear and elongational flows and cause polymer molecules to experience flow-induced crystallization during flow and subsequent solidification. The mechanical properties of the final products are significantly dependent upon the degree of crystallization and types of formed crystals. Therefore, optimization of any polymer process requires a good understanding of how flow influences crystallization. The type of flow can play a significant role in affecting crystallization. For example, elongational flow causes molecules to orient and stretch in the direction of extension, as in the case of fiber spinning and film blowing, helping the process of flow-induced crystallization. An extensive body of literature exists on flow-induced crystallization of conventional thermoplastics. Having said that, less attention has been paid to the effect of shear and elongational flow on the PLA crystallization kinetics. As investigated in the final part of this thesis, the effect of iv molecular weight on the shear-induced crystallization of PLA is reported. For this, low, medium and high molecular-weight PLAs were prepared from a high molecular weight one by a hydrolysis reaction. Next, by means of a simple rotational rheometry, effect of the shear flow was examined on the crystallization kinetics of these three PLAs.

There are two main goals of this thesis: to investigate the flow-induced crystallization behaviour of Polybutene-1 (PB-1 samples, and to study the effects of molecular parameters on the crystallization behaviour While flow-induced crystallization is not a new area in polymer research, well-defined experimental methods that allow access to high flow rate range comparable to that encountered in real processing are still lacking. Two types of flow are considered: shear and uniaxial elongational. Regarding the second aim, several molecular parameters considered are: molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, isotacticity, presence of nucleating agents, and copolymer content. For this purpose an array of PB-1 samples were used. It is found that each of these parameters can have significant effect on the crystallization behaviour. Mainly rheological methods were utilized to conduct the flow-induced crystallization experiments. Crystallization onset time is define d from the change in viscosity or other related parameters. The experiments begin with low shear rate range, to ensure that the results are comparable with literature data. In this range we encounter the quasi-quiescent onset time at very small. shear rates, which draws an interesting comparison with another physical parameter, the gel time. Beyond a critical flow rate a decrease in the onset time is seen, and a plateau-and-slope trend is evident for a curve of onset time vs. shear rate. Using a combination of three experimental methods, shear rates ranging from Q0001 - 500 s-1 are successfully achieved, and a good agreement between these methods is observed. Furthermore, a normalization procedure is introduced, which yields temperature-invariant curves for the mentioned range of shear rate. For the uniaxial elongation flow, the Elongational Viscosity Fixture (EVF) is employed, with the strain rate ranging from 0.0001 - 10 s'. A greater reduction in onset time as compared to shear (at the same shear/strain r ate) is observed, and the difference in the onset times for shear and elongation already reaches more than one decade for a flow rate of 10 5. This quantitative comparison is particularly important; since not so many data on elongation-induced crystallization are available in the literature. Finally, the thesis compares several flow induced crystallization models that can be useful as prediction tools and selects one of these models to be compared with the experimental data. A qualitative agreement is found, however, for better quantitative prediction the model still needs to be.

A thermodynamical framework is presented that describes the solidification of molten polymers to an amorphous as well as to a semicrystalline solid-like state. This framework fits into a general structure developed for materials undergoing a large class of entropy producing processes. The molten polymers are usually isotropic in nature and certain polymers crystallize, with the exception of largely atactic polymers, which solidify to an amorphous solid, to an anisotropic solid. The symmetry of the crystalline structures in the semicrystalline polymers is dependent upon the thermomechanical process to which the polymer is subjected to. The framework presented takes into account that the natural configurations associated with the polymer melt (associated with the breaking and reforming of the polymer network) and the solid evolve in addition to the evolving material symmetry associated with these natural configurations. The functional form of the various primitives such as how the material stores, dissipates energy and produces entropy are prescribed. Entropy may be produced by a variety of mechanisms such as conduction, dissipation, solidification, rearragement of crystalline structures due to annealing and so forth. The manner in which the natural configurations evolve is dictated by the maximization of the rate of dissipation. Similarly, the crystallization and glass transition kinetics may be obtained by maximization of their corresponding entropy productions. The restrictions placed by the second law of thermodynamics, frame indiference, material symmetry and incompressibility allows for a class of constitutive equations and the maximization of the rate of entropy production is invoked to select a constitutive equation from an allowable class of constitutive equations. Using such an unified thermodynamic approach, the popular crystallization equations such as Avrami equation and its various modifications such as Nakamura and Hillier and Price equations are obtained. The predictions of the model obtained using this framework are compared with the spinline data for amorphous and semicrystalline polymers.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2013.
Title as it appears in MIT degrees awarded booklet, September 2012: Molecular simulation of primary nucleation and growth from oriented melts in polyethylene. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-63).
The enhancement of the primary flow-induced nucleation rate in short chain alkanes (C20 and C150) has been examined for different levels of orientation by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. The nucleation rate has been found to change drastically by varying average molecular orientation and temperature. For example, it is possible to accelerate nucleation kinetics by three orders of magnitude at the same temperature, but varying the average level of orientation (P2 (cos [Theta])) . The size of the critical nucleus has been found to increase with the level of undercooling Tm - T decrease, consistent with the classical nucleation theory. Our atomnistic molecular dynamics simulation model is even tractable at the small levels of undercooling, thus clearly demonstrating the effects of orientation (melt anisotropy) on nucleation kinetics when thermal nucleation is expected to be negligible. Furthermore, we calculate the influence of melt anisotropy on the growth rate. As expected, the growth rate is also altered by melt anisotropy. Furthermore, the growth rate maximum always occurs at the temperature above the nucleation kinetics maximum.
by Predrag Đjurdjević.
S.M.

The effects of shear, uniaxial extension and temperature on the flow-induced crystallization of two different types of two high-density polyethylenes (a metallocene and a Ziegler-Natta HDPE) are examined using rheometry. Shear and uniaxial extension experiments were performed at temperatures below and well above the peak melting point of the polyethylene’s in order to characterize their flow-induced crystallization behavior at rates relevant to processing. Generally, strain and strain rate found to enhance crystallization in both shear and elongation. In particular, extensional flow was found to be a much stronger stimulus for polymer crystallization compared to shear. At temperatures well above the melting peak point (up to 25°C), polymer crystallized under elongational flow, while there was no sign of crystallization under simple shear. A modified Kolmogorov crystallization model (Kolmogorov AN (1937) On the statistics of the crystallization process on metals. Bull Akad Sci. USSR, Class Sci, Math Nat. 1:355–359) proposed by Tanner (Tanner RI (2009) Stretching, shearing and solidification, Chem Eng Sci, 64:4576-4579) was used to describe the crystallization kinetics under both shear and elongational flow. The model was found to predict the FIC behaviour under low deformation rates and various temperatures well; however the predictions for the higher rates were not satisfactory.

Les élastomères thermoplastiques, faits de copolymères à blocs segmentés formant des domaines mous et durs (cristallites) séparés sont largement utilisés dans l'industrie pour la production d’éléments divers (tableaux de bord, gaines de câbles ou encore adjuvants pour le bitume). Cependant, l’approche souvent très empirique consistant à modifier la composition de la chaîne et observer l’impact sur les propriétés finales laisse peu de place à la compréhension et à la généralisation de relations structure-propriétés qui restent encore mal comprises. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'apporter une meilleure compréhension des points suivants. Quels sont les effets de l'architecture de la chaîne et des conditions de procédé sur la cinétique de cristallisation et la morphologie résultante ? Peut-on expliquer l’origine du renforcement dans ces matériaux à partir de leur structure particulière ? Comment la cristallisation induite sous écoulement influence-t-elle les propriétés rhéologiques ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nous proposons de combiner l’étude expérimentale basée sur la caractérisation structurale et rhéologique de copolymères multiblocs (polybutylène téréphtalate – polytétrahydrofurane) avec une approche numérique passant par le développement d’un modèle gros-grains pour la simulation en dynamique moléculaire. Les travaux ainsi menés ont abouti aux résultats principaux suivants. Premièrement, il a été montré que la structure multiphasique, résultant d’une cristallisation bimodale dont la cinétique est essentiellement contrôlée par la longueur du segment mou, dépend fortement des conditions de mise en œuvre menant à des structures plus ordonnées lorsque la mobilité des chaînes est élevée. Ensuite, l’analyse de la topologie du réseau semicristallin a permis de mettre en avant deux paramètres pertinents permettant de prédire l’évolution du plateau caoutchoutique : la fraction volumique et la largeur des cristallites. Enfin, l'évolution des propriétés d’écoulement au cours de la cristallisation sous déformation a été décrite en élaborant un modèle rhéologique basé sur le ralentissement de la dynamique des chaînes
Thermoplastic elastomers, made of segmented block copolymers forming phase-separated domains (hard/soft) are widely used in the industry for various applications (car dashboards, cable sheathing or even bitumen modifiers). However, the empirical approach often used consisting in modifying the chain composition and looking at the consequences on the final properties lacks of understanding and the structure-properties relationships remain elusive nowadays. The main objective of this thesis is to bring new insights on the following points. What are the effects of the chain architecture and processing conditions on the crystallization kinetics and resulting morphology? Can we explain the reinforcement effect in these materials from the knowledge of their particular structure? How does the flow-induced crystallization influence the rheological properties? To answer these questions, we propose to combine an experimental study, based on structural and rheological characterizations of multiblock copolymers (polybutylene terephthalate – polytetrahydrofuran), with a numerical approach consisting in the development of a coarse-grained model for molecular dynamic simulations. This work led to the following main results. First, it was shown that the multiphasic structure, resulting from a bimodal crystallization whose kinetics is essentially controlled by the soft segment’s length, highly depends on the processing conditions, leading to more ordered structures when the chain mobility is higher. Then, the topological analysis of the semicrystalline network enabled to identify two key parameters to predict the evolution of the plateau modulus: volume fraction and width of the crystallites. Finally, the evolution of the flow properties under flow-induced crystallization was described thanks to the elaboration of a rheological model based on the slowdown of the chains dynamics

L’objet de ce travail est d’étudier l’influence de l’anisotropie structurale, induite lors de la mise en forme d’un Polylactide (PLA), sur les dynamiques moléculaires de la phase amorphe. Deux procédés de mise en oeuvre sont retenus : l’électrofilage et la cristallisation induite par flux. Le premier permet d’aboutir à un système non-cristallin, lorsque le deuxième permet d’aboutir à un système semi-cristallin. Pour chaque système, une étude microstructurale est préalablement réalisée pour mettre en avant l’anisotropie structurale induite lors de la mise en oeuvre. Pour ce faire différentes techniques d’analyses sont utilisées : microscopie optique, microscopie électronique, diffraction des rayons X, calorimétrie à balayage différentielle (DSC) et calorimétrie à balayage rapide (FSC). L’utilisation de la FSC s’avère précieuse. Du fait des vitesses extrêmement rapide (1000 K.s-1) et de la diminution importante de la masse (dizaine de nanogrammes), la transition vitreuse et la cinétique de vieillissement physique sont au préalable étudiées dans le cas d’un PLA amorphe. Il est montré que les vitesses de refroidissement atteignable en FSC permettent d’accélérer les cinétiques de vieillissement physique. Les dynamiques moléculaires sont ensuite étudiées à travers le concept de coopérativité et le phénomène de vieillissement physique. Il est montré que l’orientation préférentielle induite dans le système non-cristallin aboutit à la formation de mésophase qui augmente la coopérativité, autrement dit les interactions intermoléculaires. Dans le cas du système semi-cristallin, les dynamiques moléculaires sont influencées par le couplage amorphe/cristal et le confinement des cristaux, et non pas par l’anisotropie structurale induite avant cristallisation
The aim of this work is to investigate the molecular dynamics of Polylactide (PLA) subjected to structural anisotropy during its processing. To do so, two experimental set-ups were used: electrospinning and flow induced crystallization. The first one leads to non-crystalline system, while the second one leads to semi-crystalline system. For each system, the microstructure is investigated to highlight the structural anisotropy induced during the processing. Different experimental techniques are used: optical microscopy, electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fast scanning calorimetry (FSC). FSC proves to be useful. Due to the high scanning rates (1000 K.s-1) and the decrease of the sample mass (few tens of nanogrammes), glass transition and physical aging kinetics are beforehand investigated in the case of a wholly amorphous PLA. It is shown that high cooling rates available by FSC allow to accelerate physical aging kinetics. Molecular dynamics are then investigated through concept of cooperativity and phenomenon of physical aging. It is shown that preferential orientation induced during electrospinning leads to the formation of mesophase, which increase cooperativity, namely the intermolecular interactions. With regard to semi-crystalline system, molecular dynamics are only affected by the coupling between amorphous/crystal and the confinement effect of the crystals, rather than the structural anisotropy induced before the crystallization step

A filament stretching extensional rheometer was used to investigate the effect of uniaxial flow on the crystallization of polypropylene. Samples were heated to a temperature above the melt temperature to erase their thermal and mechanical histories. The Janeschitz-Kriegl protocol was applied and samples were stretched at various extension rates to a final strain of e = 3.0. Differential scanning calorimetry was applied to crystallized samples to measure the degree of crystallinity. The results showed that a minimum extension rate, corresponding to a Weissenberg number of approximately Wi = 1, is required for an increase in percent crystallization to occur. Below this Weissenberg number, the flow is not strong enough to align the tubes of constrained polymer chains and as a result there is no change in the final percent crystallization. An extension rate was also found for which percent crystallization is maximized. The increase in crystallinity is likely due to flow-induced orientation and alignment of tubes of constrained polymer chains. Polarized-light microscopy verified an increase in number and decrease in size of spherulites with increasing extension rate. Small angle X-ray scattering showed a 7% decrease in inter-lamellar spacing at the transition to flow-induced increase in crystallization. Crystallization kinetics were examined by observing the time required for melts to crystallize under uniaxial flow. The crystallization time decreased with increasing extension rate, even for extension rates where no increase in percent crystallization was observed. These results demonstrate that the speed of crystallization kinetics is greatly enhanced by the application of extensional flow.

Polyolefins, semicrystalline polymers also known as thermoplastics, are highly desirable because of their material properties, low cost, and ease in processing. The flow and thermal history experienced during processing are known to affect dramatic changes in crystalline kinetics and morphology, dictating the final material properties of solidified products. However, the underlying physics that control crystalline orientation and kinetics is not well understood. To optimize processing conditions and maximize material performance, it is desirable to understand how the interplay of molecular character and flow conditions shape crystalline microstructure.

In the last decade, advances in catalyst technology have produced well defined materials enabling the systematic study of molecular influences on flow-induced crystallization. We investigate bimodal blends of polypropylenes (PP) in which we vary the molecular character (concentration, molecular weight, regularity) of the high molecular weight mode. We apply a number of in situ characterization tools (rheo-optics, rheo-WAXD) to the development of transient structure and interpret our findings in light of ex situ examination (polarized light microscopy, TEM) of the final morphology.

Blending a well-characterized high molecular weight isotactic polypropylene into a "base iPP" at various concentrations (c), we determined that blends with less than 1% of chains with Mw five times larger than the Mw of the base resin profoundly affected the crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of a sheared melt. Beyond unambiguously demonstrating the important role of long chains in the formation of anisotropic crystallization under flow, this approach allowed us to be specific about the length that is meant by "long chains" and the concentration of these chains in the melt. Varying the concentration from below to above c* revealed that the effect of the long chains involves cooperative interactions, evident in the non-linear relationship of the long chain concentration, particularly as c approaches the long chain-long chain overlap concentration. The long chains greatly enhance the formation of threadlike precursors but only mildly enhance the formation of pointlike precursors.

In studying a series of blends in which the Mw of the long chain mode was varied, we found that increasing the Mw of the long chain portion of a bimodal blend increased the tendency to form threadlike precursors to oriented crystallization. This was highlighted by a marked decrease in the threshold stress necessary to induce oriented crystalline growth and is related to the separation in time scales between the slowest relaxing chains and the average. Thus, the propagation of shish varies strongly with the separation in time scales between the slowest relaxing chains and the average. Below a threshold ratio of relaxation times (tau_L/tau_S ~ 100) addition of long chains did not change the behavior from that of Base-PP itself.

Our analysis of real-time rheo-optical and rheo-WAXD experiments combined with depth dependent information from a novel "depth sectioning" analysis technique uncovers several keys to understanding how anisotropic crystallization is induced by flow. Threads first form near the channel wall, where stress is highest, and grow in length with prolonged flow. After sufficient time, thread length per unit volume saturates, perhaps due to collisions with other threads or crystalline overgrowth from those threads. Prior to saturation, when crystalline overgrowth is negligible, the thread propagation appears to be linear with shearing time. The propagation of threads varies in a nonlinear manner with stress. Finally, we identify a promising set of conditions that can be used to measure the thread propagation velocity for this material if the appropriate length scale can be assigned by microscopy.

We examined the effects of long chain regularity on the formation of threadlike precursors, showing that addition of molecular level defects to the high end of the molecular weight distribution effectively raises the threshold stress and mitigates the formation of oriented precursors induced by flow. Our study included a model bimodal blend of isotactic and atactic polypropylene as well as large scale bimodal blends of isotactic polypropylene and a propylene-ethylene copolymer fit for pilot-scale production of nonwoven fabrics. It is noteworthy that the qualitative behavior observed in the melt-spinning process accords well with the trends evident in isothermal shear-induced crystallization. This has value in two respects. Scientifically, it is significant that idealized flow and thermal conditions may well reveal the physics relevant to polymer processing, which involves mixed shear and extension under non-isothermal conditions. Technologically, the ability to screen different resin compositions on a small scale can be used to optimize flow-induced crystallization characteristics prior to scale up.

Yes
The present work deals with the flow-induced multiple orientations and crystallization structure of polymer melts under a complex flow field. This complex flow field is characteristic of the consistent coupling of extensional “pulse” and closely followed shear flow in a narrow channel. Utilizing an ingenious combination of an advanced micro-injection device and long chain aliphatic polyamides (LCPA), the flow-induced crystallization morphology was well preserved for ex-situ synchrotron micro-focused wide angle X-ray scattering (μWAXS) as well as small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). An inverted anisotropic crystallization structure was observed in two directions: perpendicular and parallel to the flow direction (FD). The novel anisotropic morphology implies the occurrence of wall slip and “global” fountain flow under the complex flow field. The mechanism of structure formation is elucidated in detail. The experimental results clearly indicate that the effect of extensional pulse on the polymer melt is restrained and further diminished due to either the transverse tumble of fountain flow or the rapid retraction of stretched high molecular weight tails. However, the residual shish-kebab structures in the core layer of the far-end of channel suggest that the effect of extensional pulse should be considered in the small-scaled geometries or under the high strain rate condition.

This thesis presents new insights into the early events of formation of oriented precursors in flow-induced crystallization of polymers, specifically isotactic polypropylene. Experimental approaches are developed to follow the creation of thread-like precursors during flow. The use of model bimodal polymers provides insight on the role of long chains in the mechanism of formation of oriented precursors. The addition of very long chains (3500 kg/mol) at low concentration (< 1% wt) dramatically reduced the stress required to trigger formation of thread-like precursors, which opened a wide range of conditions in which to discover how oriented precursors form. The combination of powerful new methods and model materials exposed a kinetic and mechanistic step prior to propagation of oriented precursors that had not been addressed in prior literature. Furthermore, the present model systems provide a bridge to the flow-induced crystallization phenomena that occur in commercial resins, making it very likely that these well-defined polymers will reveal the underlying physics that governs the effects of flow on morphology and final properties of polymers, and providing a rational basis for molecular design of polyolefins to expand the envelope of accessible properties.

The phenomenological effects of flow on polymer crystallization have been known for decades, manifested dramatically in most processing techniques due to the high stresses imposed onto the polymer melt. Processing flows can accelerate the kinetics of crystallization by orders of magnitude, and can induce the formation of highly oriented crystallites that, in turn, impact the final material properties in the solid state. The formation of oriented thread-like precursors is at the heart of these effects of flow on polymer crystallization; however, the fundamental mechanisms underlying their development remain elusive. This lack of understanding frustrates the formulation of a predictive model that relates the polymer molecular characteristics and the imposed processing conditions to the ensuing crystallization kinetics, the final morphology, and hence, the ultimate material properties. Here, we develop experimental approaches that provide insight into the physics of formation of the oriented precursors, which identify the essential elements required in a truly predictive model of flow-induced crystallization.

In this work, we build on experimental capabilities of imposing well-defined flow and thermal histories onto a polymer melt, and of utilizing small quantities of material so that model polymers can be investigated, which allows us to isolate the effect of specific molecular characteristics and flow conditions. Our apparatus provides us with real-time measurements that probe a range of shear stresses throughout a slit flow channel; thus, we develop a "depth sectioning method" as a strategy to isolate the contribution to the real-time signal that arises from a specific level of shear stress. This method is of utmost importance since the formation of thread-like precursors depends strongly on stress. To separate the development of oriented precursors during flow from the growth of oriented crystallites on them, we develop an experimental approach, the "temperature-jump," inspired by classical nucleation studies.

We use a small concentration of ultra-high molecular weight isotactic polypropylene in a matrix of shorter chains to examine the role of long chains in the creation of thread-like precursors. The use of such high molecular weight chains has revealed a richer behavior than could be observed in earlier studies, indicating that there are two stages in thread formation, kick-off and propagation, and that the stress requirement for the first step is more stringent than for the second. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the interaction of long chains with the tip of a shish creates a local orientation that is not found elsewhere in the flowing melt.

Finally, we combine the two experimental approaches to perform measurements that capture the development of the threads during flow. For intermediate shearing times, our results are well described by the most promising model currently available, the "recoverable strain model," and lay the groundwork for determining the velocity of propagation of threads at different shearing stresses. Also, it suggests that some modifications to the recoverable strain model should be included to correctly capture kick-off and saturation of the formation of threads. The experimental tools described here can be extended to other model materials, for example, to expose the effects of long chain length > 3500 kg/mol and of the stereo-regularity of the long chains. A larger parameter space can be surveyed in the future to provide additional data to test predictive models that connect molecular characteristics of a resin to structure formation under processing conditions.

No
An experimental configuration that combines the powerful capabilities of a short-term shearing apparatus with simultaneous optical and X-ray scattering techniques is demonstrated, connecting the earliest events that occur during shear-induced crystallization of a polymer melt with the subsequent kinetics and morphology development. Oriented precursors are at the heart of the great effects that flow can produce on polymer crystallization (strongly enhanced kinetics and formation of highly oriented crystallites), and their creation is highly dependent on material properties and the level of stress applied. The sensitivity of rheo-optics enables the detection of these dilute shear-induced precursors as they form during flow, before X-ray techniques are able to reveal them. Then, as crystallization occurs from these precursors, X-ray scattering allows detailed quantification of the characteristics and kinetics of growth of the crystallites nucleated by the flow-induced precursors. This simultaneous combination of techniques allows unambiguous correlation between the early events that occur during shear and the evolution of crystallization after flow has stopped, eliminating uncertainties that result from the extreme sensitivity of flow-induced crystallization to small changes in the imposed stress and the material. Experimental data on a bimodal blend of isotactic polypropylenes are presented.

No
The advances of the polymer melt flow-induced crystallization behaviour and its influence on mechanical properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in micron injection (MI) were studied in the present paper. Analysis of mechanical performance, including yield stress and elongation at break, for samples adopted from different regions in a molded plaque showed that a higher injection speed, a higher mold temperature and a longer cooling time could effectively enhance the yield stress but negatively promoted the ductility. Then, the mechanisms of such variation of mechanical performance and the factors affecting it were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The super high shear rate during cavity feeding in MI molding not only induced a typical three-layered structure but also developed a highly oriented fibrously morphological structure in the skin layer. However, such fully oriented morphology was much negative in the interlayer and even could not be observed in the core layer. The results from SEM and PLM observations indicated that the orientation morphology varied significantly through the plaque's cross-section and thickness of the each layer changed with the process parameters and geometric position, and finally led to variation of the mechanical performance.