Nonlinear viscoelastic properties of polystyrene solutions

Abstract

In this work the nonlinear behavior of concentrated polystyrene solution was examined using sliding plate rheometer developed at McGill University. In this rheometer a novel transducer is used to measure the shear stress and an optical system is used to measure birefringence during flows involving high shear rates.The steady shear stress was found to be independent of shear rate at high shear rates. The Cox-Merz rule was found to be valid for concentrations less than 0.199 g.cm$sp{-3}$, but a deviation from the rule was observed for higher concentrations. Sigmoidal damping functions, based on both the shear stress measurements and the birefringence measurements, were determined. The exponential stress coefficient and the third normal stress difference were calculated from experimental data for different values of exponential rate constant and different strain scale factor. The exponential rate constant was shown to have a strong influence on both the exponential stress coefficient and the third normal stress difference