A single segment differential tube model with interchain tube pressure effect

We develop a single segment differential tube model including interchain tube pressure effect (ITPE) [G. Marrucci, G. Ianniruberto, Interchain pressure effect in extensional flows of entangled polymers, Macromolecules 36 (2004) 3934-3942], able to describe the non-linear behaviour of entangled linear polymers. The model accounts for the effect of flow on the tube length and diameter. It is presented in two versions, depending on which tube dimension is assumed to deform affinely. The classical relaxation mechanisms, i.e., reptation, stretch dynamics, convective constraint release (CCR), as well as finite extensibility, are incorporated in a simple manner; hence the model allows an explicit comparison of the relative importance of various effects. A striking result is the insignificance of finite extensibility and the detrimental influence of CCR for moderately entangled systems when ITPE is taken into account. For highly entangled systems, CCR regains importance to avoid the well-known shear stress instability. The proposed model is able to make quantitative predictions of steady elongational and shear data for monodisperse melts, while transient values are less accurate but within experimental errors. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved