Hardness testing under a different light: combining synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction and indentation techniques for polymer fibres studies

Abstract

Deformation mechanisms occurring on the nanometre scale during indentation of bulk polymer fibres were investigated by means of scanning wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) using beams of micrometer size at the ESRF microfocus beamline (ID13). Elastic processes could be evidenced in-situ using a dedicated microindenter device. The most important changes appear in the form of local crystalline reorientation which can be quantified by analysis of the azimuthal profiles of the WAXS reflections. The texture and phase-transitions induced by plastic deformation at higher loads were also measured and the differences between high performance fibres and a more traditional semicrystalline polymer are emphasized.