In this paper, we examine the melt rheology of well-defined, model polymers where the
long chain branching (LCB) is precisely known from the synthesis. All of these are made by the
hydrogenation of polybutadiene, but they vary greatly in the level and type of LCB present. We find that
all polymers that have LCB show a greater degree of shear thinning than linear chains. This applies
both to those with a single branch (stars) and also to those with multiple branches per chain (such as
combs). However, only molecules with multiple branches induce extensional thickening in a sample. Only
a small amount of these comblike molecules, on the order of 5%, are needed to show this effect. We also
show here how a new method of treating the shear data, the so-called Van Gurp−Palmen analysis, can
give a more easily interpreted form of the results that can reveal the length and amount of branches in
a sample. The insights generated from this work show the importance of access to well-defined polymers
with several kinds of branching architecture for the development of a deeper understanding of polymer
rheology.
In this paper we report experimental velocity and concentration
profiles for suspensions
possessing a bidisperse distribution of particle size undergoing pressure-driven
flow
through a parallel-wall channel. In addition to the overall concentration
distributions
determined by implementing the modified laser Doppler velocimetry method
described
in Part 1 (Lyon & Leal 1998), concentration profiles for the particles
of each size were
measured by sampling the position of marked tracer particles across 60%
of the
channel gap. Non-uniform overall particle concentration distributions and
blunted
velocity profiles were found at bulk particle volume fractions of 0.30
and 0.40, which
were equal to the monodisperse data of Part 1, within experimental uncertainty.
The
large-particle concentration profiles were non-uniform down to a large-particle
bulk
volume fraction of 0.075, while non-uniform distributions of the small
particles were
only found when the volume fraction of small particles in the bulk was
greater than or
equal to 0.20. Experiments in which at least half the suspended particulate
volume was
occupied by large particles revealed enrichment of the large particles
in the centreline
region of the channel. This size segregation was found to increase as the
total number
of suspended particles decreased. Finally, the data from experiments in
which a
uniform small-particle concentration profile was measured were compared
with
suspension balance model (McTigue & Jenkins 1992; Nott & Brady
1994) predictions
for parameter values that corresponded only to the large particles. While
close
agreement with the large-particle concentration profiles was found, this
comparison
also reflected the fact that the small particles bring the suspension viscosity
to a regime
that is more sensitive to the particle concentration, rather than simply
providing an
increment in background viscosity to the suspending liquid.
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