The temperature dependences of tear strength for the main Borealis polyethylene grades were studied. It is shown that along with the common areas where the strength decreases with temperature, there are temperature, regions where the temperature dependence is weakly expressed or there is a maximum tear resistance associated with orientational hardening, similar to the maximum in materials of PE-RT II type.

Three groups of tear test methods are described: 1. Tear in tension with application of a special notch. 2. Continuous trouser tear. 3. Continuous trouser tearing using tear element. It is shown that the methods of determining the tear resistance allow revealing the properties of materials taking into account the orientation processes occurring in the materials under loading. Current set of methods allows assessment of low modulus thermoplastics and elastomers by tear resistance.