Related papers: Scaling in rupture of polymer chains
We perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a charged polymer in a good solvent in the regime where the chain is collapsed. We analyze the dependence of the gyration radius $R_g $ on the reduced Bjerrum length $\ell_B$ and find…
The reorientation dynamics of local tangent vectors of chains in isotropic amorphous melts containing semiflexible model polymers was studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The reorientation is strongly influenced both by the local…
We study the existence of distinct failure regimes in a model for fracture in fibrous materials. We simulate a bundle of parallel fibers under uniaxial static load and observe two different failure regimes: a catastrophic and a slowly…
Predicting the macroscopic mechanical behavior of polymeric materials from the micro-structural features has remained a challenge for decades. Existing theoretical models often fail to accurately capture the experimental data, due to…
While stretching of most polymer chains leads to rather featureless force-extension diagrams, some, notably DNA, exhibit non-trivial behavior with a distinct plateau region. Here we propose a unified theory that connects force-extension…
We study fracture processes within a stochastic fiber-bundle model where it is assumed that after the failure of a fiber, each intact fiber obtains a random fraction of the failing load. Within a Markov approximation, the breakdown…
We revisit a model of semiflexible Gaussian chains proposed by Winkler \textit{et al}, solve the dynamics of the discrete description of the model and derive exact algebraic expressions for some of the most relevant dynamical observables,…
My means of extensive Monte Carlo simulations the mean radius of gyration and the end-to-end distance are calculated for a single chain in a solvent over a broad range of volume fractions, pressures and temperatures. Our results indicate…
In this paper, we construct an effective model for the dynamics of an excluded-volume chain under confinement, by extending the formalism of Rouse modes. We make specific predictions about the behavior of the modes for a single polymer…
We study the friction between a flat solid surface where polymer chains have been end-grafted and a cross-linked elastomer at low sliding velocity. The contribution of isolated grafted chains' penetration in the sliding elastomer has been…
In frameworks of the scaling theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena the quantitative dependence of macroscopic properties on nanostructural parameters in a polymeric material is revealed. The draw ratios at neck and at break are…
We discuss the threshold activated extremal dynamics that is prevalent in the breakdown processes in heterogeneous materials. We model such systems by an elastic spring network with random breaking thresholds assigned to the springs.…
It is common to study polymer physics through the use of idealized single-chain models, and the most popular of these is the freely jointed chain model. In certain thermodynamic ensembles, statistical mechanical treatment of this model is…
The statistical mechanics of a linear non-interacting polymer chain with a large number of monomers is considered with fixed angular momentum. The radius of gyration for a linear polymer is derived exactly by functional integration. This…
A simple theory for glassy polymeric mechanical response which accounts for large scale chain relaxation is presented. It captures the crossover from perfect-plastic response to strong strain hardening as the degree of polymerization $N$…
We consider the passage of long polymers of length N through a hole in a membrane. If the process is slow, it is in principle possible to focus on the dynamics of the number of monomers s on one side of the membrane, assuming that the two…
Topological entanglements in polymers are mimicked by sliding rings (slip-links) which enforce pair contacts between monomers. We study the force-extension curve for linear polymers in which slip-links create additional loops of variable…
The motion of weights attached to a chain or string moving on a frictionless pulley is a classic problem of introductory physics used to understand the relationship between force and acceleration. Here, we consider the dynamics of the chain…
We extend the Rouse model of polymer dynamics to situations of non-stationary chain growth. For a dragged polymer chain of length $N(t) = t^\alpha$, we find two transitions in conformational dynamics. At $\alpha= 1/2$, the propagation of…
We present a theoretical description of the dynamics of a semi-flexible polymer being pulled through a nanopore by an external force acting at the pore. Our theory is based on the tensile blob picture of Pincus in which the front of the…