Smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation of viscoelastic flows with the slip-link model

Abstract

We demonstrate the ability to simulate complex flows of entangled polymer melts using a high-fidelity slip-link model. Given the strong connections of the underlying molecular model to an atomistic description, nearly ab initio predictions of complex processing are feasible. Moreover, the method retains sufficient information which might allow extraction of detailed polymer chain conformations imposed by the flow. The macroscopic transport equations are solved using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics consistently with the stresses calculated using stochastic simulation of an ensemble of polymer chains in each particle. The polymer model uses only a single adjustable parameter whose value is determined from equilibrium stress relaxation. All other parameters are determined from atomistic simulation. Thereafter, nonlinear rheology predictions are made without any parameter adjustment. As a demonstration, we simulate journal-bearing flow of a moderately entangled polymer. Although the flows considered here are two dimensional, the required computational resources demonstrate that three dimensional flow calculations are accessible.

A Multiscale Simulation of Polymer Melt Injection Molding Filling Flow Using SPH Method with Slip-Link Model

“…Combining SPH method and slip-link model, some scholars have made attempts in the multiscale simulation of polymer flow. Feng et al [ 39 ] simulated the flow past a periodic array of confined cylinders and the journal bearing lubricated with polymer melt, and the results are in good agreement with the simulation results of the UCM viscoelastic constitutive equation. Murashima et al [ 40 ] simulated the 2D flow around two cylinders, and obtained the influence of the cylindrical obstacles on the microscopic variables, including the mean length of the polymer chains, the mean number of entanglements and degree of orientation.…”

A Review on Transport Phenomena of Entangled Polymeric Liquids

“…113) Moreover, it is fair to note that a similar MSS method was developed by Schieber and coworkers by employing the DSM as a microscopic level model. 147) In the MSS methods using more coarse-grained models than MD, microscopic details are limited because of coarsegraining. However, this type of MSS methods can access various processing flow problems of well-entangled polymer melts.…”

Multiscale modeling beyond equilibrium

“…The single-segment theory of Doi and Edwards is not sufficient to make quantitative predictions or describe more detailed phenomena. That shortcoming led to the development of more detailed models, such as the so-called slip-link models, 9 which have successfully described entangled polymer melts. Their microstructural variables include fluctuations in entanglement number, entanglement spacing, and monomer density between entanglements.…”