Shrinkage as a measure of extended chain conformation

Drawing of a semicrystalline polymer causes a molecular transformation from a spherulitic‐to‐fibrillar morphology. Shrinkage, which is a characteristic property of polymeric fibers, reverses, to a large extent, the extension that takes place during the deformational process of drawing. This paper focuses on the shrinkage behavior of various drawn semicrystalline polymers and the results are used as further evidence for the feasibility of a phase‐transition model whose mechanism can be generally termed “strain‐induced recrystallization.”