Related papers: A statistical theory for polymer elasticity: from …
We propose a continuum theory to model the Mullins effect, which is ubiquitously observed in polymer composites. In the theory, the softening of the materials during the stretching process is accounted for by considering the delamination of…
We propose a theoretical framework for dealing with a transient polymer network undergoing small deformations, based on the rate of breaking and re-forming of network crosslinks and the evolving elastic reference state. In this framework,…
We study the conformation and dynamics of a single polymer chain that is pulled by a constant force applied at its one end with the other end free. Such a situation is relevant to the growing technology of manipulating individual…
Polymer networks formed by cross linking flexible polymer chains are ubiquitous in many natural and synthetic soft-matter systems. Current micromechanics models generally do not account for excluded volume interactions except, for instance,…
We review the physical properties of macromolecular networks, consisting of semiflexible polymers such as actin. We start by giving a theoretical analysis of the conformational statistics and mechanical response of single filaments.…
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 thermodynamically related model is developed for describing elastic rubber-like behavior of amorphous and crystallizing polymers and demonstrated on example of simple extension. Both the “entropic” and “energetic”…
In this work an approximated path integral model describing the dynamics of a inextensible chain is presented. To this purpose, the nonlinear constraints which enforce the property of inextensibility of the chain are relaxed and are just…
We propose a novel combinatorial algorithm for efficient generation of Hamiltonian walks and cycles on a cubic lattice, modeling the conformations of lattice toy proteins. Through extensive tests on small lattices (allowing complete…
Recent developments of microscopic mechanical experiments allow the manipulation of individual polymer molecules in two main ways: \textit{uniform} stretching by external forces and \textit{non-uniform} stretching by external fields. Many…
The effect of network chain distribution on mechanical behavior of elastomers is one of the long standing problems in rubber mechanics. The classical theory of rubber elasticity is built upon the assumption of entropic elasticity of…
A formula is derived for stiffness of a polymer chain in terms of the distribution function of end-to-end vectors. This relationship is applied to calculate the stiffness of Gaussian chains (neutral and carrying electric charges at the…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the microscopic and macroscopic response of model polymer networks to uniaxial elongations. By studying networks with strands lengths ranging from $N_s=20$ to 200 we cover the full…
We employ a mathematical model to analyze stress chains in thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with a microphase-separated spherical structure composed of triblock copolymers. The model represents stress chains during uniaxial and biaxial…
Molecular process of polymer collapse was reproduced by isothermal molecular dynamics simulation. The initial polymer chains were obtained by mean of random walks in continuum space. Two potential models were considered to represent short…
We question the network affinity assumption in modeling chain orientations under polymer deformations, and the use of the stretch measure projected from the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor (or non-affine micro-stretches derived from…
Constitutive equations are derived for the time-dependent behavior of particle-reinforced elastomers at isothermal loading with finite strains. A rubbery polymer is modelled as a network of macromolecules bridged by junctions which can slip…
When liquid-crystal elastomers are prepared without any alignment, disordered polydomain structures emerge as the materials are cooled into the nematic phase. These polydomain structures have been attributed to quenched disorder in the…
Analytical relations for the mechanical response of single polymer chains are valuable for modeling purposes, on both the molecular and the continuum scale. These relations can be obtained using statistical thermodynamics and an idealized…
We have advanced our previous static theory of polymer entanglement involving an extended Cahn-Hilliard functional, to include time-dependent dynamics. We go beyond the Gaussian approximation, to the one-loop level, to compute the frequency…