EN
The positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to investigate the free volume hole size of ethylene octane copolymers as a function of deformation in the range from 0 to 110% in steps of 10%. For each degree of deformation a series of 5-6 positron annihilation lifetime spectra was collected in situ. All spectra of a given series were analysed simultaneously. They were resolved into three exponential components, of lifetimes parametersτ_i and intensities I_i. The variations ofτ_3 reflect three deformation regions, the elastic range, strain softening range, and plastic region.