Polymer entanglement drives formation of fibers from stable liquid bridges of highly viscous dextran solutions

Reptation theory explains the formation of 10 cm long polymer fibers from stable liquid bridges.

Molecular Interdiffusion of Hauling Theory between Dissimilar Polymers Based on Novel USW

Based on the novel USW method, the welds of Polylactide (PLA) - Polyformaldehyde (POM) and PLA - polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) have been carried out. The interdiffusion processes of polymer chains have also been investigated according to the reptation theory and the hauling theory. The welding strengths are carried out by the universal tester and the rupture interfaces are observed using the scanning electron microscope. The best welding strength is 52MPa (90% compared with PLA of the PLA-POM system), which can reach the tensile strength of IPS. The molecules of POM are much easier to inter-diffuse than those of PLA and PMMA.

Calculation of the Die Entry Flow of a Concentrated Polymer Solution Using Micro-Macro Simulations

A micro-macro simulation algorithm for the calculation of polymeric flow is developed and implemented. The algorithm couples standard finite element techniques to compute velocity and pressure fields with stochastic simulation techniques to compute polymer stress from simulated polymer dynamics. The polymer stress is computed using a microscopic-based rheological model that combines aspects of network and reptation theory with aspects of continuum mechanics. The model dynamics include two Gaussian stochastic processes, each of which is destroyed and regenerated according to a survival time randomly generated from the material’s relaxation spectrum. The Eulerian form of the evolution equations for the polymer configurations is spatially discretized using the discontinuous Galerkin method. The algorithm is tested on benchmark contraction domains for a polyisobutylene solution. In particular, the flow in the abrupt die entry domain is simulated and the simulation results are compared to experimental data. The results exhibit the correct qualitative behavior of the polymer and agree well with the experimental data.