Theory of Polymer Viscoelasticity — The Rouse Model

Molecular Theory of Polymer Viscoelasticity — The Rouse Model... 

First approaches at modeling the viscoelasticity of polymer solutions on the basis of a molecular theory can be traced back to Rouse [33], who derived the so-called bead-spring model for flexible coiled polymers. It is assumed that the macromolecules can be treated as threads consisting of N beads freely jointed by (N-l) springs. Furthermore, it is considered that the solution is ideally dilute, so that intermolecular interactions can be neglected. 

The Rouse model is the earliest and simplest molecular model that predicts a nontrivial distribution of polymer relaxation times. As described below, real polymeric liquids do in fact show many relaxation modes. However, in most polymer liquids, the relaxation modes observed do not correspond very well to the mode distribution predicted by the Rouse theory. For polymer solutions that are dilute, there are hydrodynamic interactions that affect the viscoelastic properties of the solution and that are unaccounted for in the Rouse theory. These are discussed below in Section 3.6.1.2. In most concentrated solutions or melts, entanglements between long polymer molecules greatly slow polymer relaxation, and, again, this is not accounted for in the Rouse theory. Reptation theories for entangled... 

In Chapter 3, we used the Rouse model for a polymer chain to study the diffusion motion and the time-correlation function of the end-to-end vector. The Rouse model was first developed to describe polymer viscoelastic behavior in a dilute solution. In spite of its original intention, the theory successfully interprets the viscoelastic behavior of the entanglement-free poljuner melt or blend-solution system. The Rouse theory, developed on the Gaussian chain model, effectively simplifies the complexity associated with the large number of intra-molecular degrees of freedom and describes the slow dynamic viscoelastic behavior — slower than the motion of a single Rouse segment. 

Another very important analytically solvable case is the harmonic oscillator. This term is used for a mechanical system in which potential energy depends quadratically on displacement from the equilibrium position. The harmonic oscillator is very important, as it is an interacting system (i.e., a system with nonzero potential energy), which admits an analytical solution. A diatomic molecule, linked by a chemical bond with potential energy described by Eq. (2), is a typical example that is reasonably well described by the harmonic oscillator model. A chain with harmonic potentials along its bonds (bead-spring model), often invoked in polymer theories such as the Rouse theory of viscoelasticity, can be described as a set of coupled harmonic oscillators. 

The theory has only a single adjustable parameter, which corresponds to the Rouse time (the characteristic relaxation time for an unconfined chain) of the polymer, and it does a quite reasonable job of predicting the hnear viscoelastic response and the transient and steady-state shear and normal stresses in simple shear, ft is not as good as more complex tube-based models hke the pom-pom model, and it cannot be used for nonviscometric flows because of the absence of a continuum representation, but it contains structural details and is very useful for providing insight into the mechanics of slip. 

In the case of polymers, viscosity is considered an important property to explain the viscoelastic behavior of polymers under stress and strain [154]. At this point, two theories are considered which deal with the flow behavior of polymer mixtures the first, which was proposed by Rouse [155] and is based on the studies of Kargin and Slonimsky, is KSR model the second, as proposed by Zimm [156] and based on the studies of Kirkwood and Risemann, is the KRZ model. 

Since molecular theories of viscoelasticity are available only to describe the behavior of isolated polymer molecules at infinite dilution, efforts have been made over the years for measurements at progressively lower concentrations and it has been finally possible to extrapolate data to zero concentration. The behavior of linear flexible macromolecules is well described by the Rouse-Zimm theory based on a bead-spring model, except at high frequencies . Effects of branching can be taken into account, at least for starshaped molecules. At low and intermediate frequencies, the molec-... 

Tube models have been used to predict this material function for linear, monodisperse polymers, and a so-called standard molecular theory [159] gives the prediction shovm in Fig. 10.17. This theory takes into account reptation, chain-end fluctuations, and thermal constraint release, which contribute to linear viscoelasticity, as well as the three sources of nonlinearity, namely orientation, retraction after chain stretch and convective constraint release, which is not very important in extensional flows. At strain rates less than the reciprocal of the disengagement (or reptation) time, molecules have time to maintain their equilibrium state, and the Trouton ratio is one, i.e., % = 3 7o (zone I in Fig. 10.17). For rates larger than this, but smaller than the reciprocal of the Rouse time, the tubes reach their maximum orientation, but there is no stretch, and CCR has little effect, with the result that the stress is predicted to be constant so that the viscosity decreases with the inverse of the strain rate, as shown in zone II of Fig. 10.17. When the strain rate becomes comparable to the inverse of the Rouse time, chain stretch occurs, leading to an increase in the viscosity until maximum stretch is obtained, and the viscosity becomes constant again. Deviations from this prediction are described in Section 10.10.1, and possible reasons for them are presented in Chapter 11. 

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