Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of flow-induced nucleation in polymer melts.
We derive a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate flow-induced nucleation in polymer melts. The crystallisation kinetics are modified by both stretching and orientation of the amorphous chains under flow, which is modelled by a recent non-linear tube theory. Rotation of the crystallites under flow is modelled by a simultaneous Brownian dynamics simulation. Our kinetic Monte Carlo approach is highly efficient at simulating nucleation and is tractable even at low under-cooling. The simulations predict enhanced nucleation under both transient and steady state shear. Furthermore the model predicts the growth of shish-like elongated nuclei for sufficiently fast flows, which grow by a purely kinetic mechanism.
School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. richard.graham@nottingham.ac.uk
Richard S
RS
Graham
Peter D
PD
Olmsted