The dynamic shear modulus and the flow rate through capillaries under constant pressure and under constant velocity of the piston, have been measured for polybutadienes and polyisoprenes of narrow molecular weight distribution with molecular weights ranging, respectively, from 3.8 × 104 to 5.8 × 105 and from 1.06 × 105 to 6.02 × 105. The phenomena of the discontinuous increase of volume flow rate and self‐oscillatory flow regime at critical rates of deformation have been considered in detail. It is proposed that these phenomena are due to the induced transition of the polymer from the fluid to the high‐elastic state at higher deformation rates. As a result, an inference has been made that polybutadienes and polyisoprenes with a narrow molecular weight distribution in the high‐elastic state, behave in certain respects as crosslinked polymers incapable of displaying fluidity. The quantitative relationships among the viscoelastic characteristics measured under dynamic regimes, the parameters determining the critical flow regimes, and the molecular weights of polybutadienes and polyisoprenes have been worked out.
The state of the problem of elastic turbulence is critically discussed. It is shown that the development of elastic turbulence is associated with the transition of polymer systems to the high elastic state.
Model experiments with a narrow‐MWD polybutadiene have been carried out. The method of vizualization of the flow in a flat slit with the aid of circular‐polarized light has been used. The results of polarization‐optical investigation are compared with the results of capillary viscometry and dynamic measurements at small amplitudes. It is shown, in accordance with theoretical predictions, that when a polymer passes from the fluid to the high elastic state with an increase in the shear rate, it ceases to behave as a fluid under shear. This is accompanied by various forms of flow perturbation at the duct exit and entrance and inside the duct. Perturbations at the duct entrance and exit are due to stress concentration in these zones. The transition of a polymer to the high elastic state near the walls inside the duct gives rise to the “stick‐slip” process or to continuous slippage along the duct walls, depending on the velocity of polymer movement. This can be clearly traced by the changes in the interference band pattern. Still higher velocities result in an intensive process of continuity break (rupture) in the polymer and in its chaotic movement in the duct as an aggregate of irregularly shaped lumps, which, relaxing, may form a continuous body again. Attention is drawn to the significance of these observations for a quantitative description of the viscosity anomaly of polymer systems and of the relationship between the viscosity anomaly with various flow irregularities and perturbations in such systems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.