| Abstract: | The micromechanism of tensile deformation of polyp-(2-hydroxyethoxy)benzoic acid] fibers is discussed on the basis of a detailed esr study of radical formation. The concentration of primary phenoxy radicals, which were detected during deformation at room temperature as a direct indicator of main-chain rupture, was determined by extrapolating the radical decay curves at various strains to zero time. The relation between the initial radical concentration and the strain is well expressed by the cumulative normal distribution curve. By use of this relation and a model of fiber structure, the distribution of the contour length of tie chains was determined. No radicals were detected during a second stretching cycle until the maximum strain in the first run was exceeded. The deformation model which includes alternating crystalline and amorphous regions connected by tie chains, a distribution of contour lengths of tie chains, and a phase transformation of molecular chains in the crystalline region accounted fairly well for the observed stress–strain behavior of monofilaments in first and second stretching cycles. The comparison between the observed and the calculated radical concentration suggests that statistical factors and other deformation mechanisms have to be taken into account. |
