The behavior of polymer solutions in simple shear flows has been the subject of considerable research in the past. On the other hand, reports on polymers in elongational flow have appeared comparatively recently in the literature. Elongational flow with an inherent low vorticity is known to be more effective in extending polymer chains than simple shear flow and thus is more interesting from the point of view of basic (molecular chain dynamics at high deformation) and applied polymer science (rheology, fiber extrusion, drag reduction, flow through porous media). Undoubtly, one landmark in the field of polymer dynamics in elongational flow was the notion of critical strain-rate for chain extension, initially put forward by A. Peterlin (1966) and later refined into the "coil-stretching" transition by P. G. de Gennes and H. Hinch (1974). In the two decades which followed, significant progress in the understanding of chain conformation in "strong" flow has been accomplished through a combination of advances in instrumentation, computation techniques and theoretical studies. As a result of the multidisciplinary nature of the field, information on polymer chains in "strong" flow is accessible only from reviews and research papers scattered in disparate scientific journals. An important objective of this book is to remedy that situation by providing the reader with up-to-date knowledge in a single volume. The editors therefore invited leading specialists to provide both fundamental and applied information on the multiple facets of chain deformation in elongational flow.

This monograph is based on a series of lectures presented at the 1999 NSF-CBMS Regional Research Conference on Mathematical Analysis of Viscoelastic Flows. It begins with an introduction to phenomena observed in viscoelastic flows, the formulation of mathematical equations to model such flows, and the behavior of various models in simple flows. It also discusses the asymptotics of the high Weissenberg limit, the analysis of flow instabilities, the equations of viscoelastic flows, jets and filaments and their breakup, as well as several other topics.

Accompanying DVD-ROM contains ... "all chapters of the Springer Handbook."--Page 3 of cover.

This book sets out to provide a guide, with examples, for those who wish to make predictions about the mechanical and thermal behaviour of non-Newtonian materials in engineering and processing technology. After an introductory survey of the field and a review of basic continuum mechanics, the radical differences between elongational and shear behaviour are shown. Two chapters, one based on a continuum approach and the other using microstructural approaches, lead to useful mathematical desriptions of materials for engineering applications. As examples of nearly-viscometric and nearly-elongational flows, there is a discussion of lubrication and related shearing flows, and fibre- spinning and film-blowing respectively. A long chapter is devoted to the important new field of computational rheology, and this is followed by chapters on stability and turbulence and the all-important temperature effects in flow. This new edition contains much new material not available in book form elsewhere-for example wall slip, suspension rheology, computational rheology and new results in stability theory.

A comprehensive exposition of micro and nanofiber formation processes, from physical foundations to production and applications.