Molecular Rheology of Glassy Polymers (FUNDAMENTAL MATERIAL PROPERTIES-Molecular Rheology)

Molecular origin of the viscoelasticity around the glass transition zone is investigated by means of dynamic birefringence and dynamic viscoelasticity measurements. The present study show that the viscoelasticity around the glass transition zone has two molecular origins: One is the orientation relaxation of main chain axis and the other one is the rotational motion of structure units about the main chain axis

Power law viscoelasticity of a fractal colloidal gel

Power law rheology is of widespread occurrence in complex materials that are characterized by the presence of a very broad range of microstructural length and time scales. Although phenomenological models able to reproduce the observed rheological features exist, in general a well-established connection with the microscopic origin of this mechanical behavior is still missing. As a model system, this work focuses on a fractal colloidal gel. We thoroughly characterize the linear power law rheology of the sample and its age dependence. We show that at all sample ages and for a variety of rheological tests the gel linear viscoelasticity is very accurately described by a Fractional Maxwell (FM) model, characterized by a power law behavior. Thanks to a unique set-up that couples small-angle static and dynamic light scattering to rheological measurements, we demonstrate that the power law rheology observed in the linear regime originates from reversible non-affine rearrangements and discuss the possible relationship between the FM model and the microscopic structure of the gel

Linear viscoelasticity of emulsions : I. The effect of an interfacial film on the dynamic viscosity of nondilute emulsions

The dynamic viscosity of nondilute monodisperse emulsions is calculated by using a cell model. Two possibilities for describing the mechanical properties of the interfacial film between the internal and the external phase are considered: (A) the film is assigned a two-dimensional linear viscoelastic behavior and (B) the film is treated as a shell with finite thickness containing a Newtonian liquid. The resulting expressions for the dynamic viscosity show that model B has two relaxation times and model A has at least two or more. If a Voigt-Kelvin model is used to describe the interfacial rheology, model A will also have just two relaxation times. The results obtained may be used to interpret measurements on emulsions in terms of microscopic parameters of these emulsions

Discontinuous Galerkin method for an integro-differential equation modeling dynamic fractional order viscoelasticity

An integro-differential equation, modeling dynamic fractional order viscoelasticity, with a Mittag-Leffler type convolution kernel is considered. A discontinuous Galerkin method, based on piecewise constant polynomials is formulated for temporal semidiscretization of the problem. Stability estimates of the discrete problem are proved, that are used to prove optimal order a priori error estimates. The theory is illustrated by a numerical example.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Vibration Damping of Carbon Nanotube Assembly Materials

Vibration reduction is of great importance in various engineering applications, and a material that exhibits good vibration damping along with high strength and modulus has become more and more vital. Owing to the superior mechanical property of carbon nanotube (CNT), new types of vibration damping material can be developed. This paper presents recent advancements, including our progresses, in the development of high-damping macroscopic CNT assembly materials, such as forests, gels, films, and fibers. In these assemblies, structural deformation of CNTs, zipping and unzipping at CNT connection nodes, strengthening and welding of the nodes, and sliding between CNTs or CNT bundles are playing important roles in determining the viscoelasticity, and elasticity as well. Towards the damping enhancement, strategies for micro-structure and interface design are also discussed

Elastic deformation during dynamic force measurements in viscous fluids

Understanding and harnessing the coupling between lubrication pressure and elasticity provides materials design strategies for applications such as adhesives, coatings, microsensors, and biomaterials. Elastic deformation of compliant solids caused by viscous forces can also occur during dynamic force measurements in instruments such as the surface forces apparatus (SFA) or the atomic force microscope (AFM). We briefly review hydrodynamic interactions in the presence of soft, deformable interfaces in the lubrication limit. More specifically, we consider the scenario of two surfaces approaching each other in a viscous fluid where one or both surfaces is deformable, which is also relevant to many force measurement systems. In this article the basic theoretical background of the elastohydrodynamic problem is detailed, followed by a discussion of experimental validation and considerations, especially for the role of elastic deformation on surface forces measurements. Finally, current challenges to our understanding of soft hydrodynamic interactions, such as the consideration of substrate layering, poroelasticity, viscoelasticity, surface heterogeneity, as well as their implications are discussed