Deformation behaviors of thermoplastic elastomers and structural changes upon uniaxial stretching and upon the subsequent release of the stretching load, as revealed by in-situ measurements of X-ray scattering, are reviewed.
Exclusively, the following three subjects are focused; (1) changes in packing regularity of glassy spherical microdomains in styrenic block copolymer samples upon uniaxial stretching and upon the subsequent release of the stretching load, (2) changes in nano-structures in styrenic block copolymer samples bearing glassy lamellar nanostructures upon uniaxial stretching and upon the subsequent release of the stretching load (fracture of the glassy nano-structures), and (3) ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering analyses of structural changes in elastomeric segmented polyurethaneureas upon uniaxial stretching (formation of crazes in sub-micron scale).