Volume 13, Issue 4

Stagnation flow studies form a key research area in numerous applications dealt with industry. When a fluid approaches a solid boundary, it undergoes severe deceleration along the axis of impingement. We present the experimental findings of the effects of stagnation point on polymeric flow systems. While coating metal sheets or wires with a polymer melt, the metal sheet forms a moving plane on which a steady flow of the melt is maintained. Further in the process the polymer melt cools down and forms a coating. Stagnation region exists around the point where the polymer melt first touches the metal sheet. We try to simulate this situation except in our experiments the solid plane is not moving. The polymer solution flows down the inverted T-channel and strikes the base where we obtain the stagnation region. Laser Doppler technique is used to analyze the flow profile in this region. Initial analysis includes the analysis of a Newtonian fluid which is compared to theoretical predictions. Polyisobutadiene solution with three different concentrations, 0.1%, 1% and 3%, was tested for observing the effect of the change in concentration on the flow patterns around the stagnation point. In the stagnation region the fluid is not completely stagnant but follows a non-streamwise motion.

Apparent viscosity, ηa , and first normal stress coefficient, ψ1 , of six different concentrations of cross-linked waxy maize (CWM), 3.5-5 % w/w, and tapioca, 2.8-4 % w/w, starch dispersions (SDs) showed power law relationships with shear rate, ̇γ , and increased with starch concentration. In both ηa and ψ1 , volume fraction of the granules, ϕ , played a more important role than the amylose content of the continuous phase. Slope of ηa - ̇γ curves increased mildly with starch concentration, while slope of ψ1 - ̇γ curves was almost the same for CWM at all concentrations and 4 % tapioca SDs. Values of ηa and ψ1 predicted from dynamic rheological and apparent viscosity data based on the Goddard-Miller model were in reasonable agreement with experimental values.

Rutting is a primary reason of premature deterioration of asphalt highway pavements. Pavements constructed with polymer and other modifiers are showing improved performance. The virgin asphalt and modified asphalt binders and mixes used on several test sections of the I-55 highway rehabilitation project in northern Mississippi are compared. The laboratory creep compliance data for these binders were measured at low temperatures using a modified test procedure adapted for the Bending Beam Rheometer device. Dynamic Shear Rheometer was used at high service temperatures. The creep compliance data of the binder was used as an input to simulate creep compliance behavior of the mix using a micromechanical model. The field evaluation confirms the relatively poor performance of the virgin asphalt section with respect to rutting, compared to modified binder sections.

The intention of the paper is to illustrate the ability of the Brownian dynamics simulation technique applied to mesoscale polymer models in order to reproduce light scattering experiments of dilute polymer solution under flow. After suitable parameterization of a real polymeric system, polystyrene solved in a oligostyrene/toluene mixture at 299 K (good solvent conditions), a bead-spring model of the polymer chain is built and used to generate molecular trajectories on a computer. Such trajectories will capture the deformational and orientational processes experienced by the real polymer chain under flow. Then, from the set of molecular conformations generated, several polymer properties as well as typical scattering patterns can be reproduced quite accurately. FENE springs were used and excluded volume and non-preaveraging hydrodynamic interaction were taken into account in order to build a chain model as realistic as needed.