Mechanical properties of polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate filled with calcium carbonate

Abstract 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 systems. In the case of oriented samples, the relative modulus ( E / E , where E and E 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 / E can be simply expressed as the function of void volume and CaCO ₃ modulus to polymer matrix modulus.