Bishko, G., McLeish, T.C.B., Harlen, O.G. et al. (1 more author) (1997) Theoretical molecular rheology of branched polymers in simple and complex flows: the pom-pom model. Physical Review Letters, 79 (12). pp. 2352-2355. ISSN 0031-9007
Abstract
The nonlinear rheological constitutive equation of a class of multiply branched polymers is derived using the tube model. The molecular architecture may be thought of as two q-arm stars connected by a polymeric ''crossbar.'' The dynamics lead to a novel integrodifferential equation which exhibits extreme strain hardening in extension and strain softening in shear. Calculations of flow through a contraction predict that the degree of long-chain branching controls the growth of corner vortices, in agreement with experiments on commercial branched polymers.