Abstract
The flow of viscoelastic materials is usually interpreted as resulting from intramolecular properties. Typically, the non-linear flow behaviour and sluggish relaxation dynamics in entangled polymers are interpreted by a disentanglement process. This molecular interpretation has never been validated by direct observation. We report here on in situ observations of polymer melts under steady-state shear flow using neutron scattering and particle tracking velocimetry. It is shown that the chains remain largely undeformed under steady-state shear flow whereas wall slippage and shear-banding are identified in both entangled and unentangled polymer melts. These observations are of prime importance; they reveal that the flow mechanism and its viscoelastic signature reflect a collective effect and not properties of individual chains.
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