Shear banding in strained semicrystalline polyamide 6 films as revealed by atomic force microscopy: Role of the amorphous phase

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Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to visualize the plastic deformation mechanisms that are responsible for the yielding of semicrystalline polymers of low degree of crystallinity (T < 160 °C. Postmortem AFM observations show that, at yield, shear bands nucleate and propagate in the amorphous phase. They cross the crystalline lamellae and run over the whole surface of the sample. By crossing the lamellae, they form nanoblocks of uniform size. Neither the size of the nanoblocks nor the angle between the tensile axis and the shear bands can be explained in terms of crystal plasticity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 687–701, 2004