The present study revealed that an injection-molded product comprising poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAL) exhibited an anomalous dimensional change, i.e., expansion in the flow direction, after postprocessing annealing (around 2.9% expansion by annealing at 80−100 °C for 3 h). Although the crystallization of the PLA during cooling was not accelerated by the addition of PVAL, the PLA showed transcrystallization from the dispersed PVAL droplets, which were deformed in the flow direction, during postprocessing annealing. Therefore, after annealing, the injection-molded products exhibited a high degree of molecular orientation, in contrast to the original unannealed products, which were not oriented. This anomalous behavior should be noted as a means of controlling dimensional change after processing.

The effect of shear history on structure development during post-processing annealing was studied using poly(lactic acid) PLA. Since PLA shows a low crystallization rate, quenched films had no crystallinity. Moreover, molecular orientation was not detected in the films. During the annealing procedure beyond its glass transition temperature, however, molecular orientation to the flow direction occurred with the crystallization growth in the films having an appropriate shear history. This peculiar crystal growth during the annealing was most probably attributed to the crystallization from extended chain crystals generated during the applied shear history, although the amount of extended chain crystals was low. The results obtained in this study should be noted because the molecular orientation proceeded due to the annealing history applied. Furthermore, this phenomenon will be used to suppress dimensional change and increase product rigidity.