Kinetic model of radical-chain degradation of a system of loaded polymer chains of different length☆

Abstract Kinetic equations for radical-chain degradation as applied to a model of chains of different length simulating a loaded amorphous layer of an oriented polymer are recorded in the narrow degradation front approximation. A method for their numerical analysis on a computer has been developed and the durability is calculated for different values of the length variations of the communicating chains. For values of the kinetic constants corresponding to PE, allowance for free radical reactions leads only to an insignificant decrease in the effective activation energy of the degradation process U 0 from 0.5 D 1 to 0.44 D 1 (where D 1 is the dissociation energy of the C—C bond in the macromolecule).