Influence of Free Quenching on Mechanical Physical and Thermal Properties of High Density Polyethylene

In this study, the effects of free quenching on mechanical physical and thermal behaviours of high density Polyethylene (PEHD) have been investigated. Three different thermal treatments were used: A first free quenching from the melt state to air, a second free quenching from 130°C  to different temperatures and finally an annealing .The results have shown that an improvement of the impact strength and elongation at break can be obtained after a first quenching to air. However, a second quenching at 0°C gives better results and a correlation between the mechanical and thermal properties is observed. The improvement of these properties is obtained to the detriment of other properties like elasticity modulus, density, vicat softening temperature (VST) and heat distortion temperature (HDT). The improvement of impact strength and elongation at break after the second quenching is probably linked to the existence of a relaxation mode located around this temperature. Keywords : free quenching; polyethylene, mechanical, physical, thermal. DOI : 10.7176/CPER/59-03