The adhesion of viscoelastic polymers to wool and polyethylene

The relative magnitude of the rate‐dependent peel force for different polymers adhering to polyethylene could be qualitatively predicted from the measured hysteresis of polymer films during stress—strain testing. Calculated values of the energy dissipated at the polymer/polyethylene interface during peeling were of the same order of magnitude as hysteresis values measured at a much lower stress than the breaking stress of the weakest polymer. This was consistent with low values of polymer/polyethylene intrinsic bond strengths expected for pure van der Waals bonding across the interface. In the wool/polymer system, fiber/polymer adhesion was an important facor in determining the shrink‐resist effectiveness (sre) of polymers applied to wool fabric. Correlation between polymer shrink‐resist effectiveness and polymer hysteresis was observed for two series of polymers whose intrinsic wool/polymer bond strengths could be assumed constant. In both cases, cohesive failure in the polymer occurred and hysteresis had to be measured just below the breaking stress of each polymer.