9304035 Khomami An investigation is to be carried out on the interfacial stability and dynamic deformation of multilayer polymeric fluids subjected to shear and extensional deformation. The approach is a mix of modeling and experiments. The modeling component consists of theoretical stability analysis, including three dimensional and finite amplitude instability modes. The experiments will use various polymer melts in straight and converging channels to simulate a co-extrusion environment. Theoretical and experimental findings regarding layer deformation and stability will be compared. Multilayer coextrusion and coating is an important process in the formation of polymeric composite materials. Under certain processing conditions, instabilities can arise, and these cannot at present be reliably predicted. ***
