Shear‐induced structuring kinetics in thermoplastic segmented polyurethanes monitored by rheological tools

Thermoplastic segmented polyurethanes (TPUs) are an important class of thermoplastic elastomers with a two‐phase microstructure arising from the thermodynamic incompatibility between hard (HSs) and soft segments. This microphase separation observed on cooling from a homogeneous state is often combined with the solidification of either or both types of segments. In this study, the structuring mechanism of two TPUs with HSs based on 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate and 1,4‐butanediol was investigated from rheological measurements. Hence, in addition to the structuring temperature influence, the effect of an applied preshear flow in the melt polymer was analyzed, in particular. The results clearly show an enhancement of the solidification kinetics by the preshear. Indeed, the measured structuring time can be reduced by more than 1 decade. Rheo‐optical microscopy observations coupled with a shearing hot stage corroborated these results and showed the modification of the microstructure by the shear. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 190–201, 2010     

Wall shear stress and near-wall convective transport: Comparisons with vascular remodelling in a peripheral graft anastomosis

Fluid dynamic properties of blood flow are implicated in cardiovascular diseases. The interaction between the blood flow and the wall occurs through the direct transmission of forces, and through the dominating influence of the flow on convective transport processes. Controlled, in vitro testing in simple geometric configurations has provided much data on the cellular-level responses of the vascular walls to flow, but a complete, mechanistic explanation of the pathogenic process is lacking. In the interim, mapping the association between local haemodynamics and the vascular response is important to improve understanding of the disease process and may be of use for prognosis. Moreover, establishing the haemodynamic environment in the regions of disease provides data on flow conditions to guide investigations of cellular-level responses.     

Comparison of shear banding in BMGs due to thermal-softening and free volume creation

This paper reports a comparative study of shear banding in BMGs resulting from thermal softening and free volume creation. Firstly, the effects of thermal softening and free volume creation on shear instability are discussed. It is known that thermal softening governs thermal shear banding, hence it is essentially energy related. However, compound free volume creation is the key factor to the other instability, though void-induced softening seems to be the counterpart of thermal softening. So, the driving force for shear instability owing to free volume creation is very different from the thermally assisted one. In particular, long wave perturbations are always unstable owing to compound free volume creation. Therefore, the shear instability resulting from coupled compound free volume creation and thermal softening may start more like that due to free volume creation. Also, the compound free volume creation implies a specific and intrinsic characteristic growth time of shear instability. Finally, the mature shear band width is governed by the corresponding diffusions (thermal or void diffusion) within the band. As a rough guide, the dimensionless numbers: Thermal softening related number B, Deborah number (denoting the relation of instability growth rate owing to compound free volume and loading time) and Lewis number (denoting the competition of different diffusions) show us their relative importance of thermal softening and free volume creation in shear banding. All these results are of particular significance in understanding the mechanism of shear banding in bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). Supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the project “Multi-Scale Complex System” (Grant No. KJCX-SW-L08), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10725211 and 10721202), and the Doctorial Start-up Fund of Hunan University of Science and Technology (Grant No. E50840)     

Dynamic adhesive strength of fiber-polymer systems

A new device for studying the dynamic adhesive strength is created. A procedure for determining the dynamic adhesive strength in fiber—polymer systems under impact loading (pull-out technique) is developed. The adhesive strength of the interface of polymer—steel wire joints formed by polymers of different chemical nature (epoxy resin, polysulfone, and polypropylene) is examined. It is shown that the dynamic adhesive strength grows as the loading rate increases for all the systems under investigation and that the relationship between the adhesive strength and the loading rate, , over a wide range of rates can be described by two straight lines corresponding to the quasi-static and impact loading, respectively. When passing from the quasi-static to dynamic loading, the character of scale relations of the adhesive strength does not change.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 689–700, November–December, 1999.     

边界吸收效应对非定常剪切弥散的影响

采用延迟扩散方程［７，９］描述了具有边界吸收条件下，非定常剪切流动中的剪切弥散特性．给出了记忆函数、中心位移函数的控制方程．特例分析结果表明：所采用的模型方程是合理的；边界吸收效应使得纵向浓度分布具有后倾的趋势．这主要是由于边界吸收使得低速强剪切区浓度减少，剪切弥散贡献减少，从而污染物对流速度高于断面的平均速度．     

Zum Fließverhalten kurzglasfasergefüllter Thermoplastschmelzen im stationären und instationären Bereich

Zusammenfassung Durch Zugabe von Glasfasern wird das rheologische Verhalten von Kunststoffschmelzen verändert. Kurzglasfasergefüllte Styrol-Acrylnitril-Copolymere mit verschiedenen Füllgraden wurden mit dem Rotations-und dem Kapillarrheometer untersucht. Sowohl im stationären Bereich als auch im instationären Bereich (Anlauf- und Abklingverhalten) sind Unterschiede zum ungefüllten Material festzustellen: Mit Zunahme des Faseranteils steigt der Schubmodul, und das viskoelastische Überschwingen wird geringer als bei ungefüllten Systemen. Erhöhung von Temperatur, Schergeschwindigkeit und Faseranteil führen zu einer Verkürzung der Relaxationszeiten, Steigerung des hydrostatischen Druckes erwartungsgemäß zu deren Verlängerung.

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Summary The rheological behaviour of polymer melts is changed by addition of glass fibres. Experiments were conducted with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers filled with various amounts of short fibres on a rotational and a capillary rheometer, both under steadystate and transient conditions. It is observed that by adding fibres the shear modulus increases but the stress overshoot decreases. With increase of temperature, shear rate and fibre content relaxation times become shorter whereas with higher hydrostatic pressures they grow longer, as is to be expected.

Mit 9 Abbildungen und 2 Tabellen     

The non-isothermal rheological behaviour of molten polymers: Shear and elongational stress growth of polyisobutylene under heating

Summary Data of stress growth under both shear and elongational kinematics have been taken in presence of heating temperature ramps on a commerical polyisobutylene.The experimental results have been analysed on the basis of a generalized Maxwell model already proved to be very accurate in predicting the isothermal behaviour. A good agreement is observed between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results.Also the features usually observed in volume-temperature curves by effect of cooling acrossT _g are qualitatively reproduced by the model.With 6 figures     

Bridging the Length Scales: Micromechanics of Granular Media

Aristotle's statement that the whole is more than the sum of its parts aptly describes the essence of a granular material's rich and complex behaviour, which ultimately arises from internal mechanisms developed on many length scales. Recently, non-invasive experimental studies have given remarkable insight into the evolution of these mechanisms, thereby providing benchmarks and a unique opportunity for the theoretical modelling of these systems. This paper focuses on the challenges of capturing these multiscale mechanisms within the framework of continuum theory. In particular, a new approach toward developing a non-local micropolar constitutive model of granular media using micromechanics and internal variable theory is discussed. To demonstrate the predictive potential of these models, we present their application in the analysis of two fundamental problems to the mechanics of granular media: (i) formation and evolution of shear bands (the precursors of material failure), (ii) the classical Flamant problem. Finally, we briefly discuss the computational challenges in bridging the gap between micromechanical studies of granular media and the applications of continuum theory on the macro-scale via a finite element analysis of the flat punch problem. In practice, this problem is used to assess the load bearing capacity of a material and is fundamental to civil and structural engineering.     

An experimental study of a turbulent shear layer at a clean and contaminated free-surface

An experimental study was performed to measure the flow properties of a vertically-orientated shear layer in the vicinity of a free-surface. The effect of surface contamination on the near surface flow field was also determined. Digital Particle Image Velocimetry was used to measure instantaneous and averaged velocity, vorticity, and Reynolds stresses. Results show that the presence of surfactants can cause directional shifts of the shear layer, as well as an overall damping of the turbulence in the vicinity of the free-surface, except in the vicinity of a Reynolds ridge where an increase in Reynolds stress was observed.