ABSTRACT:The elastic modulus, E l , of the crystalline regions of poly (p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) single fiber in the direction parallel to the chain axis was measured by X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation at beamline BL46XU of SPring-8. The E l value of the PPTA single fiber was obtained as 156 GPa at room temperature from the initial slope of the stress-strain curve of the crystal lattice. However, the inclination of the stress-strain curve changed at a tensile stress of around 1000 MPa, which produced an E l 0 value of 199 GPa in a higher stress region. This indicates that the deformation mechanism in the crystal lattice at higher tensile stress was different from that in the initial stage of the tensile deformation. Stress hardening of PPTA was also observed macroscopically during the tensile deformation process. Stress hardening in the crystal lattice was found to directly affect macroscopic stress hardening of the PPTA fiber. Poly (p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fiber is one of the most popular high performance polymer fibers. Well known by its commercial names, Kevlar Ò , and Twaron Ò , it has excellent thermal stability and good mechanical properties. PPTA fiber is widely used in industrial materials, reinforcement fibers for advanced composite materials, and so on.1,2 The mechanical properties of PPTA fiber are affected by the microstructures formed during liquid-crystalline spinning. In the last few decades, the relationship between the microstructures and the mechanical properties of PPTA fibers has been extensively studied. Black reported that a possible explanation for the extraordinary mechanical properties of PPTA fiber is its extended chain orientation rather than its high crystallinity.
3PPTA fiber is said to possess microscopically radially oriented pleated sheet structures, in which the microfibrils are misoriented with a long (300-500 nm) zigzag structure along the fiber axis. [4][5][6] Northolt et al. reported that the macroscopic deformation of PPTA fiber is governed by the orientational change in the PPTA micro-fibrils along the fiber axis in the initial tensile stress region. 7,8 Therefore, after the micro-fibril orientation has been completed, stress hardening due to the elongation of the molecular chains themselves is observed in the high tensile stress region. The structural changes during the fiber tensile deformation process have also been investigated in several studies using a variety of methods, such as Raman spectroscopy, 9-11 an X-ray diffraction method, 7,8,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] and a combined microfocus Raman/microfocus X-ray diffraction technique.
22The elastic modulus, E l , of the crystalline regions of polymers in the direction parallel to the chain axis provides important information on the molecular conformation, its deformation process, and its relations to mechanical properties. The E l value also plays an important role in attempts to obtain high modulus polymer materials because the E l value is equal to the maximum attain...