Publications

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Rotational relaxation functions of the end-to-end vector of short, freely jointed and freely rotating chains were determined from molecular dynamics simulations. The associated response functions were obtained from the one-sided Fourier transform of the relaxation functions. The Cole-Davidson function was used to fit the response functions with extensive use being made of Cole-Cole plots in the fitting procedure. For the systems studied, the Cole-Davidson function provided remarkably accurate fits [as compared to the transform of the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) function]. The only appreciable deviations from the simulation results were in the high frequency limit and were due to ballistic or free rotation effects. The accuracy of the Cole-Davidson function appears to be the result of the transition in the time domain from stretched exponential behavior at intermediate time to single exponential behavior at long time. Such a transition can be explained in terms of a distribution of relaxation times with a well-defined longest relaxation time. Since the Cole-Davidson distribution has a sharp cutoff in relaxation time (while the KWW function does not), it makes sense that the Cole-Davidson would provide a better frequency-domain description of the associated response function than the KWW function does.

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The Independent Network Model (INM) has proven to be a useful tool for understanding the development of permanent set in strained elastomers. Our previous work showed the applicability of the INM to our simulations of polymer systems crosslinking in strained states. This study looks at the INM applied to theoretical models incorporating entanglement effects, including Flory's constrained junction model and more recent tube models. The effect of entanglements has been treated as a separate network formed at gelation, with additional curing treated as traditional phantom contributions. Theoretical predictions are compared with large-scale molecular dynamics simulations.

Constitutive models for chemically reacting networks are formulated based on a generalization of the independent network hypothesis. These models account for the coupling between chemical reaction and strain histories, and have been tested by comparison with microscopic molecular dynamics simulations. An essential feature of these models is the introduction of stress transfer functions that describe the interdependence between crosslinks formed and broken at various strains. Efforts are underway to implement these constitutive models into the finite element code Adagio. Preliminary results are shown that illustrate the effects of changing crosslinking and scission rates and history.

The WLF equation is typically used to describe the dependence of polymer mobility on temperature at atmospheric pressure. Tests at different pressures would at least require different WLF parameterization. Completely different tests, for example, probing the temperature dependence of mobility at constant density, would require even greater modifications. By performing molecular dynamics simulations on simple chain molecules equilibrated at different thermodynamic states, we have shown that the mobility depends in a more general sense on the potential energy density of the system. That is, mobilities for any equilibrated state collapse onto one master curve when plotted against the potential energy density. Moreover, this relationship can be fit by either a 'generalized' WLF equation or by a power-law relationship observed in critical phenomena. When this mobility relationship is used within a rheologically simple, thermodynamically consistent, viscoelastic framework, quantitative agreement is seen between experimental data and theoretical predictions on a range of tests covering enthalpy relaxation to mechanical yield to physical aging.