Dynamics of Phase Behavior of a Polymer Blend Under Shear Flow.pdfVIP

Dynamics of Phase Behavior of a Polymer Blend Under Shear Flow 7 9 9 1 t c O 1 1 1 2 3 Tao Sun , Anna C. Balazs , and David Jasnow ] t f o 1Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, s t. Pittsburgh, PA, 15261. 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, a m University of Pittsburgh, PA, 15260 - d n o c [ 1 v 8 4 3 0 1 7 9 We study the dynamics of the phase behavior of a polymer blend in the presence of / t a shear flow. By adopting a two fluid picture and using a generalization of the concept of m material derivative, we construct kinetic equations that describe the phase behavior of - d polymer blends in the presence of external flow. A phenomenological form for the shear n modulus for the blend is proposed. The study indicates that a nonlinear dependence of o c the shear modulus of the blend on the volume fraction of one of the species is crucial for : v a shift in the stability line to be induced by shear flow. i X r a I. INTRODUCTION The dynamics of the phase behavior in polymer mixtures under external flow fields has aroused great interest over the last two decades [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The motivation for these studies is twofold. First, the effect of viscoelasticity on the phase behavior of polymer mixtures can be directly detected for some macroscopic flows. Secondly, many industrial processes, such as extrusion and painting processes, generate shear flow fields in polymer solutions and melts. In order gain further insight into non-equilibrium phase transitions and to optimize these industrial processes, one must unde