The experimental study on melt spinning was carried out for a linear type poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS). The thermal properties and crystallization behavior were examined by dilatometry. The glass transition temperature of the PPS was 91°C and the melting temperature was 288°C. The crys-tallization temperature at the cooling rate of 2°C/min was 252°C. The Avrami's exponent of the crystallization isotherm was 2. Although these values of linear type PPS were similar to those of conventional type PPS, melt spinning was possible for linear type PPS, but not for conventional type PPS. The maximum strain rate of running filaments was about 50s
-1 under the spinning condition of extrusion temperature of 300°C, extrusion rate of 1.89×10
-3cm
3/s, and take-up speed of 108m/min. The maximum strain rate was the same to that of a liquid crystalline polymer at melt spinning. The region of elongational deformation was very narrow and close to the spinneret in the same manner as with melt spinning of mesophase petroleum pitch. The elongational viscosity of the deformation region ranged from 4×10
3 poise to 1×10
6 poise, which was higher than that of conventional polymer melt spinning. The temperature at solidification point of the running filaments was 140°C. The elongational stress during attenuation process was simulated by a constitutive equation of the Bogue-White model. Good prediction of the elongational stress along spinline was obtained by using single relaxation time, similarly to the case of melt spinning of petroleum pitch. Molecular orientation and mechanical properties of PPS fibers were also investigated. Molecular orientation and Young's modulus of as-spun PPS fibers increased with an increase in their molecular weights. Young's modulus of PPS fibers was much higher than that of isotropic PTFE sheets.
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