Model prediction of the ESCR of semicrystalline polyethylene: Effects of melt cooling rate.

The article presents a study of the impacts of melt cooling rate on the environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR) of high-density polyethylene (HPDE) using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Raman spectroscopy, and microhardness. It demonstrates the association of ESCR and crystal thickening. It says that the proposed model by Sharif and colleagues based on the analogy of crack growth across the amorphous phase of semicrystalline polymers predicts the time to failure.