Uniaxial stretching and shape memory behavior of branched amorphous polyethylene

•Stress-strain variations show four distinct regimes before failure.•The same structure has similar behavior under different temperatures.•Structural composition and temperature have a great effect on mechanical properties.•The response of memory behavior indicates that the material can restore the shape.•Material through the shape memory behavior, has better mechanical properties. The current work investigates the effects of branching and temperature on the mechanical properties and shape memory properties of branched polyethylene. The results show that the mechanical properties of low density polyethylene are strongly influenced by the length, number and temperature of the branched chains. The lower the temperature, the lower the modulus of elasticity. When the length is longer and the number is smaller, the stress in the hardening phase is higher. For shape memory properties, we found that the fewer and shorter the branched chains, the better the shape memory properties, and the shape memory behavior can promote the repolymerization and crystallization of the structure, which will cause the enhancement of stress hardening. : Polyethylene models for: all-atom and United-atom models (a), initial molecular structure (b) and single branched polyethylene chain (c). [Display omitted]