Fibres of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMW PE) were prepared with the gel fibre drawing method

in which the solvent and extraction solvent used were a general kerosene and gasoline respectively. The structural changes in the fibres during drawing process were examined by wide angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD)

polarising optical microscopy(POM) and density gradient column.During drawing process

folded chain structure transformed into extended chain one in the fibre

the density of fibres increased

and the dimensions of orthorhombic crystallite size trended towards a narrow distribution with the increasing draw ratio simultaneously.The orthorhombic unit cell dimensions for the fibre with a draw ratio of 40 were a=0.732nm

b=0.491nm

and c=0.254nm.In the fibre with a draw ratio of about 40

kink bands were observed.They are suggested to correspond to the local crystalline slip due to the effect of winding tension

and the smaller the winding roller diameter

the more clearly they can be observed.In present work

the effect due to the existence of kink bands on the structure of orientation and crystallinity of fibre bulk was not observed.