Modification of compressive strength of highly oriented polyethylene fibers by irradiation in methyl methacrylate atmosphere

A method was proposed to improve the compressive strength of highly oriented polyethylene (PE) fibers. The amount of grafted polymethymethacrylate (PMMA) on the surface of the PE fiber was measured using Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Compressive testing of fibers was performed using the single-fiber recoil test. It was found that the compressive strength of highly oriented PE can be improved by the proposed method.