This article evaluates the effects of "molecular orientation" on rigid PVC mechanical properties. The subject is introduced and associated to application of Oriented PVC in piping systems, regarding the importance of gelation level on the quality of these products. A mono-axial orientation method is described and tested on an extruded sample, whose efficiency is evaluated and samples are produced with different stretching ratios. Upon increasing the stretching ratio, improvements are observed mainly in the maximum tensile strength, tensile modulus and toughness. On the other hand, deformation at break is decreased.
PVC; poly (vinyl chloride); orientation
