MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF POLYETHYLENE ETHYLENE VINYL-ACETATE FILLED WITH CALCIUM-CARBONATE

The tensile behavior of polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate (PE/EVA) polymer blends filled with calcium carbonate (CaCO//3) was studied using tensile and viscoelastic tests. The relations between tensile properties (modulus, strength, etc) of oriented and unoriented PE/ EVA-CaCO//3, and void volume of polymer/CaCO//3 interface, PE/EVA blend ratio, and CaCO//3 content were investigated. The results indicated that the tensile strength and elongation of PE/EVA-CaCO//3 decreased with CaCO//3 content and PE blend ratio for unoriented PE/EVA-CaCO//3 sytsems. In the case of oriented samples, the relative modulus (E**d//c/E**d//p, where E**d//c and E**d//p are the modulus of oriented composites and the modulus of oriented matrix, respectively) of PE/EVA-CaCO//3 is larger than that of PE/ CaCO//3 by increasing the EVA content relative to PE and CaCO//3. The value of E**d//c/E**d//p can be simply expressed as the function of void volume and CaCO//3 modulus to polymer matrix modulus.