Plastic deformation of semicrystalline polymers: High density polyethylene (HDPE)

Studies on the mechanisms of plastic deformation of crystalline and amorphous components in semicrystalline polymers have been reviewed. The mechanisms of deformation of a crystalline component are exclusively crystallographic in nature. Cavitation frequently observed during the deformation, is not essential for the plastic deformation process and, if happens, it is only the side effect most probably induced by the deformation of the amorphous component involving separation of lamellae. Attention was focused on the mechanisms of interlamellar sliding, crystallographic slip along and across the chain, and twinning as well as martensitic transformation which, in the absence of cavitation, are the main deformation mechanisms of plastic deformation of semicrystaline polymers. Several examples are given of no-cavity large-strain deformation of high density polyethylene under plane-strain compression, uniaxial compression and simple shear.