Temperature dependence of lattice distortions in polyethylene

Summary Melt-crystallized samples of polyethylene show a reversible change of the line-width in X-ray wide angle scattering. The width increases with decreasing temperature, the largest changes occur in the temperature ranges of the- and-relaxation processes. Fourier analyses of the line profiles using the method of Warren and Averbach are indicative of strain variances which can be attributed to stress variances over larger domains in the semi-crystalline superstructure. An explanation for this effect is found in the stress parallel to the planes of the lamellae produced by the differences of the thermal expansion coefficients of the crystalline and amorphous domains in the lamellar two-phase systems. The magnitude of the stress is determined by the difference of the thermal expansion coefficients as well as the Young's moduli of the domains whereas the stress variances are related to the statistics of the lamellar thicknesses.With 23 figures and 3 tables