Influence of strain rate, temperature and humidity on the tensile yield behaviour of aliphatic polyketone

The tensile yield behaviour of an aliphatic polyketone is studied in relation to the molecular relaxation processes present in the polymer. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis reveals the presence of three molecular relaxation mechanisms; the crystalline a-, and the amorphous ß- and, ¿-process. The tensile yield behaviour, measured over a large range of temperature and strain rate, also gives evidence of these three relaxation mechanisms. The increase of the water content from 0.5 to 2.3 wt% leads to a selective change in the ß-contribution, whereas the a- and ¿-processes show little to no change. With respect to the tensile yield behaviour this leads to a reduction of the yield stress at high strain rates and/or low temperatures.