Orientation of precrystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate)

The orientation characteristics of crystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, were studied as a function of degree of crystallinity, orientation temperature, and stretch ratio. Oriented samples were analyzed with respect to mechanical, shrinkage, and barrier properties. The results show that (a) significant impact property improvement can be achieved by orienting crystallized PET, (b) the modulus, ultimate strength, and yield stress increase with orientation of precrystallized PET, (c) the initial degree of crystallinity can affect the strain-hardening properties of PET, and (d) the total amounts of shrinkage and shrinkage stress of stretched PET increase with increasing amounts of crystallinity before orientation.