Extensional flow of dilute polymer solution

Simultaneous effects of temperature and concentration on tensile viscosity are investigated using a semi-empirical scaling law established to relate the concentration, temperature and deformation rate by a reduced deformation rate variable. Results show the onset of high viscosity occurring in the vicinity of the onset of non-Newtonian viscosity observed in a simple shear flow experiment. High viscosity is also compared with steady and dynamic shear data. Finally, the asymptotic solution of Hassager's kinetic theory of a bead-rod model for macromolecular solutions is compared with the data, indicating that tensile viscosity depends strongly on the molecular weight, the higher the molecular weight, the more sensitive the tensile viscosity in terms of the deformation rate.