I Thermoplastics (commodity) Polyethylene (PE)精编.pdfVIP

I. Thermoplastics (commodity): Polyethylene (PE) Description The material POLYETHYLENE, (-CH2-)n, first synthesized in 1933, looks like the simplest of molecules, but the number of ways in which the - CH2 - units can be linked is large. It is the first of the polyolefins, the bulk thermoplastic polymers that account for a dominant fraction of all polymer consumption. Polyethylene is inert, and extremely resistant to fresh and salt water, food, and most water-based solutions. Because of this it is widely used in household products, food containers like Tupperware and chopping boards. Polyethylene is cheap, and particularly easy to mold and fabricate. It accepts a wide range of colors, can be transparent, translucent or opaque, has a pleasant, slightly waxy feel, can be textured or metal coated, but is difficult to print on. Composition (-CH2-CH2-)n Image _ Caption PE is widely used for containers and packaging. General properties Density 58.62 - 59.93 lb/ft^3 Price 0.7794 - 0.8574 USD/lb Mechanical properties Youngs modulus 0.09007 - 0.13 10^6 psi Shear modulus * 0.03158 - 0.04557 10^6 psi Bulk modulus 0.3118 - 0.3263 10^6 psi Poissons ratio * 0.4175 - 0.4344 Yield strength (elastic limit) 2.596 - 4.206 ksi Tensile strength 3.002 - 6.498 ksi Compressive strength 2.856 - 4.627 ksi Elongation 200 - 800 % Hardness - Vickers 5.4 - 8.7 HV Fatigue strength at 10^7