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We present a review of the recent characterizations of the flow behaviour of high-molecular-weight polymer melts, with special emphasis on situations in which slip at the wall appears. These characterizations are based on direct measurements of the local velocity of the fluid, in the immediate vicinity of the solid wall, through near-field velocimetry techniques. The results demonstrate the importance of polymer molecules anchored on the solid surface, either by strong adsorption or by chemical grafting, and entangled with the bulk polymer, to produce a strong friction at low shear rates and to lead to a shear rate threshold above which strong slip at the wall and low friction develop. The evolution of the shear rate threshold and of the flow characteristics (the length of the extrapolation of the velocity profile to zero, the critical slip velocity for the onset of strong slip, ...) with the molecular parameters of the system (the molecular weights of the bulk and surface chains, and the surface density of anchored chains) is analysed and compared with the predictions of recent theoretical models.

We present a detailed experimental investigation of the effect of molecular parameters on the onset of strong slip at the wall for polydimethylsiloxane melts flowing against silica surfaces on which a weak density of polymer chains are anchored by adsorption. The observed variation of the critical velocity for the onset of strong slip V * ∝ N −1.09 P −3.2 , with N and P the polymerisation indices of surface and bulk chains, respectively, and the wide range of the non-linear friction regime above V * strongly support the description of the dynamic de-coupling between the surface and bulk chains in terms of progressive disentanglement.

Vector components of alternating electric and magnetic fields can be measured with excellent sensitivity and time resolution using a laser system employing Pockels effect or Faraday effect materials as field sensors. This technique offers the advantages of being passive and remote; the sensor material requires no power source and can be interrogated by a remotely located laser transmitter and receiver with no connecting wires or electrodes. This paper analyzes the sensitivity of the electrooptic and magnetooptic methods and derives new figures of merit for materials used as sensors in these applications. Experiments evaluating the temperature coefficients of sensitivity and demonstrating that sensitivities of 0.06 V/cm and 0.5 G can be achieved easily are described.