Orientation effects in biaxially stretched linear polyethylene

The literature on polymer morphology contains many studies of structural and orientation changes occurring upon uniaxial stretching of films and fibers, but it has only an occasional reference to such studies on biaxially stretched film. This paper presents data on a structural change due to simultaneous biaxial stretching up to 6 × 6 stretch ratio of quenched linear polyethylene slightly below the melting temperature. At low stretch ratios the b axis of the orthorhombic unit cell orients predominantly in the biaxial plane of stretching or film plane. At higher than 4 × 4 stretch ratio, a second crystal orientation appears which is a (110) orientation in the film plane. Differential scanning calorimetry scans show two melting peaks occurring concurrently with diffraction effects of two crystal orientations. The evidence for two populations of crystals differing in orientation are discussed in the light of current concepts of folded‐chain lamellae and their fragmentation with elongation.