Simultaneous Measurements of Stress and Birefringence Development during Extensional Deformation of Cyclic Olefin Copolymer

To clarify the structure development of cyclic olefin copolymers in stretching and relaxation processes, on-line measurements of optical retardation and tensile force were performed. Birefringence increased continuously whereas stress showed yielding at stretching temperatures of $160^{\circ}C$. At $170^{\circ}C$, stress yielding was not observed and stress and birefringence increased monotonously with an increase in the strain. In the relaxation process, stress and birefringence decreased monotonously at all the temperatures examined. The slope for the stress vs. birefringence relation at initial stage of stretching increased with an increase in temperature, whereas that for the relaxation stage was significantly larger that for the stretching process, and therefore showed a significant hysteresis.