Paper Number
PM11 

Session
Polymer Melts: From Molecular Rheology to Processing

Title
A simple constitutive model for polymer blends: Predictions and experimental comparisons for viscometric and non-viscometric flows

Presentation Date and Time
October 16, 2018 (Tuesday) 4:10

Track / Room
Track 2 / Plaza I

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

  1. Peterson, Joseph D. (University of California, Santa Barbara, Chemical Engineering)
  2. Boudara, Victor (University of Leeds, School of Mathematics)
  3. Read, Daniel J. (University of Leeds, School of Mathematics)
  4. Sasmal, Chandi (Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, Department of Chemical Engineering)
  5. Leal, L. Gary (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Joseph D. Peterson1, Victor Boudara2, Daniel J. Read2, Chandi Sasmal3, and L. Gary Leal1
1University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; 2School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS29JT, United Kingdom; 3Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, Rupnagar, punjab 140001, India

Speaker / Presenter 
Leal, L. Gary

Text of Abstract
Industrially relevant flows of industrially relevant polymers are notoriously difficult to model; the polymers are compositionally complex (comprising a broad spectrum of chain lengths and chain architectures), and the flow fields are non-viscometric and non-linear. In this talk, we share our recent progress in the constitutive modelling of polydisperse melts of linear chain polymers. Our constitutive model is a simple construct free of adjustable parameters, derived as an amalgam of double reptation (a temporary network approximation for polydisperse melts) and Rolie Poly (a simplified tube model for monodisperse melts), and is suitable for CFD modelling applications. We present the predictions of this model in viscometric flows (start-up of steady shear and uniaxial extension) and non-viscometric flows (2D contraction/expansion through a slit) and compare against experimental findings of the same.