Rheologica Acta, Vol.32, No.6, 581-588, 1993
TRANSIENT NETWORK MODEL FOR A MULTIPHASE POLYMERIC FLUID
Rheological behaviors of entangled polymer melts filled with rigid solid particles are phenomenologically described based on a Yamamoto type transient network model. Entanglement points are described by one kind of temporary junctions with a lifetime tau(p). Presence of fillers introduces another kind of network junctions with a lifetime tau(s), characteristic of adsorption of polymer chains at the filler surface. The degree of compatability of filler surfaces with the polymer medium is characterized in terms of adsorption time tau s relative to the disentanglement time tau(p). By incorporating the effects of interfacial slippage into the deformation mechanism of the transient network, one can explain the variation of such theological functions as shear viscosity with surface treatment of fillers and with molecular weight of the polymer matrix at a given filler volume fraction.
Keywords:RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES;POLYSTYRENE MELTS;CALCIUM-CARBONATE;TITANIUM-DIOXIDE;FILLED POLYMERS;YIELD STRESS;SHEAR;SUSPENSIONS;FLOW;COPOLYMERS