9622526 Boyce This project will study the mechanical behavior of amorphorous polymers which undergo strain-induced crystallization. These polymers begin in the amorphous state, but during deformation processing near the glass transition temperature and at certain stress-strain states, will crystallize. Such crystallization acts to further increase their stiffness and strength beyond that due to their molecular orientation. However the crystallization does not occur at all stress-strain states and in fact sometimes decreases in stiffness or strength. While this is clearly fundamental research, it is also directly applicable to real polymer processing operations and products. ***
