Some rheological properties of molten polypropylene

The following measurements were carried out on the melts of two samples of polypropylene, one with a narrow and one with a broad molecular weight distribution: viscosity in steady shear flow, dynamic storage and loss moduli, total normal thrust in cone-and-plate apparatus, and flow birefringence. The validity of various theoretical interrelations between the measured quantities is checked. The influence of molecular weight distribution is qualitatively discussed.