On the relationship between the work of adhesion and the critical shear stress for the onset of flow instabilities

The relationship between the critical shear stress for the onset of flow instabilities and the work of adhesion at the interface has been evaluated experimentally for a series of polyolefins on several steels, brasses, and coated steels. The critical shear stress was considerably affected by the chemical nature of the die. Low-surface-energy materials were found to produce smooth extrudates presumably by inducing slippage at the wall. Steel, …