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Clustering of Entanglement Points in Highly Strained Polymer Melts

[Image: see text] Polymer melts undergoing large deformation by elongation are studied by molecular dynamics simulations of bead–spring chains in melts. By applying a primitive path analysis to strongly deformed polymer melts, the role of topological constraints in highly entangled polymer melts is...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hsu, Hsiao-Ping, Kremer, Kurt
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Chemical Society 2019
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6740293/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31534275
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01120
Descripción
Sumario:[Image: see text] Polymer melts undergoing large deformation by elongation are studied by molecular dynamics simulations of bead–spring chains in melts. By applying a primitive path analysis to strongly deformed polymer melts, the role of topological constraints in highly entangled polymer melts is investigated and quantified. We show that the overall, large scale conformations of the primitive paths (PPs) of stretched chains follow affine deformation while the number and the distribution of entanglement points along the PPs do not. Right after deformation, PPs of chains retract in both directions parallel and perpendicular to the elongation. Upon further relaxation we observe a long-lived clustering of entanglement points. Together with the delayed relaxation time this leads to a metastable inhomogeneous distribution of topological constraints in the melts.