The Influence of Network Density and Physics of Crosslinked Polyethylene on Water Treeing

Three low density polyethylene (LDPE) grades with varying vinyl content were crosslinked using different mechanisms. One target was to identify whether there were any differences in water treeing properties for the three LDPE grades that had similar network density, although the network was obtained in different ways. The second target was to observe the behaviour of water treeing in a crosslinked LDPE with increasing amounts of dicumyl peroxide. It was found that the way the network was formed is not important for the water treeing properties. The water trees grew with increasing dicumyl peroxide content, possibly depending on the simultaneous decrease in crystallinity.