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Relating Chain Conformations to Extensional Stress in Entangled Polymer Melts
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Relating Chain Conformations to Extensional Stress in Entangled Polymer Melts

Thomas C. O'Connor, Nicolas J. Alvarez and Mark O. Robbins
Physical review letters, v 121(4), pp 047801-047801
26 Jul 2018
PMID: 30095953
url
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.047801View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (Publisher-Specific) Open

Abstract

Physical Sciences Physics Physics, Multidisciplinary Science & Technology
Nonlinear extensional flows are common in polymer processing, but they remain challenging theoretically because dramatic stretching of chains deforms the entanglement network far from equilibrium. Here, we present coarse-grained simulations of extensional flows in entangled polymer melts for Rouse-Weissenberg numbers Wi(R) = 0.06-52 and Hencky strains epsilon >= 6. Simulations reproduce experimental trends in extensional viscosity with time, rate, and molecular weight. Studies of molecular structure reveal an elongation and thinning of the confining tube with increasing WiR. The rising stress is quantitatively consistent with the decreasing entropy of chains at the equilibrium entanglement length. Molecular weight dependent trends in viscosity are related to a crossover from the Newtonian limit to a high rate limit that scales differently with chain length.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Physics, Multidisciplinary
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