Abstract
A recent constitutive equation derived from molecular considerations (the “pom-pom” equation) captures the qualitative rheological behaviour of LDPE in shear and extension (uniaxial and planar) for the first time. The pompom topology of branched polymer has theoretically similar behaviour to LDPE due to its multiple branch points. The idealised pom-pom molecule has a single polymer chain backbone ending in a branch point at each end with multiple arms attached at the branch points. A constitutive equation for the pom-pom class of polymer which involves a set of differential and integral molecular constitutive equations has been recently developed [1]. These are derived from the physics of the polymer molecules based on Doi and Edwards tube model for entangled polymer melts. This approach is coupled with previous work on star arm dynamics[2], of which results have been verified by experiment.
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