Adhesion of grafted polyethylene to an ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer

Modern developments in polymer technology include the use of multimaterials . Two or more polymers are fashioned together to produce a composite with a desired combination of properties. However, the success of such materials depends on the quality of the adhesion between the various phases. In this study, we considered the adhesion between a grafted polyethylene and an eth ylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer with various peel test geometries. The princi pal, L-peel, test was employed with various peel angles. Using elastoplasti c analysis, we found that the effective peel energy, increasing with the pe el angle, may be corrected for bulk energy dissipation, leading to a relati vely constant local value for intrinsic peel resistance, independent of geo metry. Effects of the peel rate and temperature may be combined to give a m aster curve, apparently a novelty for thermoplastics, although well known f or elastomers. At a (corrected) peel rate, a jump in adhesion energy, appar ently related to a change to a stick-slip peel regime, was observed. This j ump appeared to be absent for some other peel geometries. (C) 2001 John Wil ey & Sons, Inc.