Relaxational interactions and viscoelasticity of polymer melts. I: Model development (Q1066738)

Using a set of three stochastic differential equations the rheological equations of state are developed for concentrated solutions and melts of high polymers. The macromolecules are assumed to move without recourse to entanglement. The bead-spring model is used as the basis to describe the correlations of motion by means of relaxation equations. The oscillatory shear flow is analysed and the dynamic modulus and relaxation times are evaluated. The results represented graphically are compared with available experimental data for real materials. The relaxation time distribution matches the data; the discrepancy between theory and experiments is explained by the polydispersity of the samples used in experiments.