Flow‐induced crystallization by surface growth of polyethylene fibers

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Abstract
A series of experiments has been carried out investigating several features of the surface growth method for observing longitudinal growth of polyethylene fibers in Couette geometry. Attempts to obtain limiting steady‐state takeup rates using a Teflon rotor were hampered by fiber breakage; however, maximum growth rates before breakage were found to be considerably higher than those observed in previous studies. Growth rates were also obtained using a static method, and for the Teflon rotor indicated above a critical concentration a linear growth rate equal to the stirrer velocity with rates essentially independent of temperature. With a silanized glass rotor, the same method gave much lower growth rates at comparable stirrer speeds and temperatures and showed a temperature dependence suggestive of a nucleation‐controlled mechanism. The implications of these results for other studies of the mechanisms of growth by the surface method are also discussed.