The process described as “roll‐drawing” has been applied to commercial extruded sheets of isotactic polypropylene (M̄n = 70,900). Preheated billets were drawn into thin, clear, transparent sheets in a single pass, producing uniaxial orientation of the polymer molecules in the draw direction. At the maximum draw ratio of 20, the ultimate tensile strength and Young's modulus in the draw direction were 0.5 GPa and 20 GPa respectively. The mechanical properties transverse to the draw direction were virtually unchanged. The theory of fiber reinforcement for unidirectional anisotropic plates was applied to interpret the orientation dependence of the stress‐strain behavior of the drawn sheets. From these results, it was estimated that the mechanical properties of biaxially laminated polypropylene sheets equaled the performance of aramid and carbon fiber composites, The roll‐drawing process appears to be economically attractive for the production of ultra‐high modulus crystalline thermoplastics in sheet form having excellent uniaxial or biaxial properties.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.