Computational Methods For Polymers

This book presents recent advances in computational methods for polymers. It covers multiscale modeling of polymers, polymerization reactions, and polymerization processes as well as control, monitoring, and estimation methods applied to polymerization processes. It presents theoretical insights gained from multiscale modeling validated with exprimental measurements. The book consolidates new computational tools and methods developed by academic researchers in this area and presents them systematically. The book is useful for graduate students, researchers, and process engineers and managers.

This book presents recent advances in computational methods for polymers. It covers multiscale modeling of polymers, polymerization reactions, and polymerization processes as well as control, monitoring, and estimation methods applied to polymerization processes. It presents theoretical insights gained from multiscale modeling validated with exprimental measurements. The book consolidates new computational tools and methods developed by academic researchers in this area and presents them systematically. The book is useful for graduate students, researchers, and process engineers and managers.

Liquid crystals, polymers and polymer liquid crystals are soft condensed matter systems of major technological and scientific interest. An understanding of the macroscopic properties of these complex systems and of their many and interesting peculiarities at the molecular level can nowadays only be attained using computer simulations and statistical mechanical theories. Both in the Liquid Crystal and Polymer fields a considerable amount of simulation work has been done in the last few years with various classes of models at different special resolutions, ranging from atomistic to molecular and coarse-grained lattice models. Each of the two fields has developed its own set of tools and specialized procedures and the book aims to provide a state of the art review of the computer simulation studies of polymers and liquid crystals. This is of great importance in view of a potential cross-fertilization between these connected areas which is particularly apparent for a number of experimental systems like, e.g. polymer liquid crystals and anisotropic gels where the different fields necessarily merge. An effort has been made to assess the possibilities of a coherent description of the themes that have developed independently, and to compare and extend the theoretical and computational techniques put forward in the different areas.

Very few polymer mechanics problems are solved with only pen and paper today, and virtually all academic research and industrial work relies heavily on finite element simulations and specialized computer software. Introducing and demonstrating the utility of computational tools and simulations, Mechanics of Solid Polymers provides a modern view of how solid polymers behave, how they can be experimentally characterized, and how to predict their behavior in different load environments. Reflecting the significant progress made in the understanding of polymer behaviour over the last two decades, this book will discuss recent developments and compare them to classical theories. The book shows how best to make use of commercially available finite element software to solve polymer mechanics problems, introducing readers to the current state of the art in predicting failure using a combination of experiment and computational techniques. Case studies and example Matlab code are also included. As industry and academia are increasingly reliant on advanced computational mechanics software to implement sophisticated constitutive models – and authoritative information is hard to find in one place - this book provides engineers with what they need to know to make best use of the technology available. Helps professionals deploy the latest experimental polymer testing methods to assess suitability for applications Discusses material models for different polymer types Shows how to best make use of available finite element software to model polymer behaviour, and includes case studies and example code to help engineers and researchers apply it to their work

This volume combines two symposia, Computational Polymer Science and Nanotechnology, and Solution Thermodynamics of Polymers, both held at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, October 17-20, 1999, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both symposia brought together leaders, pioneers, and promising researchers in the area of the physical chemistry of polymers. The first meeting concentrated on computational techniques, while the other presented recent work on both experimental and theoretical works in the physical chemistry of polymers.

Synthetic Lubricants and High-Performance Functional Fluids, Second Edition offers state-of-the-art information on all the major synthetic fluids, describing established products as well as highly promising experimental fluids with commercial potential. This second edition contains chapters on polyinternalolefins, polymer esters, refrigeration lube

Large, fast, digital computers have been widely used in engineering practice and their use has had a large impact in many fields. Polymer processing is no exception, and there is already a substantial amount of literature describing ways in which processes can be analysed, designed or controlled using the potentialities of modern computers. The emphasis given varies with the application, and most authors tend to quote the results of their calculations rather than describing in any detail the way the calculations were undertaken or the difficulties experienced in carrying them out. We aim to give here as useful and connected an account as we can of a wide class of applications, for the benefit of scientists and engineers who find themselves working on polymer processing problems and feel the need to undertake such calculations. The major application we have in mind is the simulation of the dynamics ofthe various physical phenomena which arise in a polymer process treated as a complex engineering system. This requires that the system be reasonably well represented by a limited number of relatively simple subprocesses whose connections can be clearly identified, that the domi nant physical effects relevant to each subprocess can be well defined in a suitable mathematical form and that the sets of equations and boundary conditions developed to describe the whole system can be successfully discretised and solved numerically.