An instrument for online measurement of structural orientation in translucent polymer sheets

[摘要] In many applications of polymer materials, a high tensile strength is required. There is a definite correlation between the degree of orientation of molecular chains achieved in the orientation process and the tensile strength obtained. In this work, we describe design and fabrication details of a device, `Laser based polymer orientation grader’, for online measurement of the degree of orientation to obtain a high consistent tensile strength as output. This instrument has been designed making skilful use of the optical anisotropic property of the oriented polymer strip. The principle is based on the fact that the spatial distribution of laser light passing through the translucent polymer sheet depends on the degree of orientation of long chain molecules in the sheet. The method has potential online application in monitoring and controlling of anisotropy in manufacturing processes.

[学科分类] 材料工程

[关键词] Online measurement;tensile strength;molecular orientation of long chains;anisotropy;scattering;diffraction.