Abstract: Mechanical properties, chemical structure, and microstructure of PE-HD/PE-UHMW blends were studied by means of universal tester, Fourier transform infrared, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after high power UV light irradiation. When the weight ratio of PE-HD/PE-UHMW was 1/1 and carbon 9A32 was added, 80 % of the elongation at break was reserved after irradiation. After 500 h of UV light irradiation, a tensile strength of 25 MPa and an elongation at break of 550 % were kept, which met the requirement for bridge jacket materials.

Key words: Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, blending modification, UV radiation, jacket