0000000000223340
AUTHOR
C. Pastorino
Comparison of Dissipative Particle Dynamics and Langevin thermostats for out-of-equilibrium simulations of polymeric systems
In this work we compare and characterize the behavior of Langevin and Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) thermostats in a broad range of non-equilibrium simulations of polymeric systems. Polymer brushes in relative sliding motion, polymeric liquids in Poiseuille and Couette flows, and brush-melt interfaces are used as model systems to analyze the efficiency and limitations of different Langevin and DPD thermostat implementations. Widely used coarse-grained bead-spring models under good and poor solvent conditions are employed to assess the effects of the thermostats. We considered equilibrium, transient, and steady state examples for testing the ability of the thermostats to maintain const…
Frictional Forces between Strongly Compressed, Nonentangled Polymer Brushes: Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Scaling Theory
By means of molecular dynamics simulations and scaling theory we study the response of opposing polymer brushes to constant shear motion under good solvent conditions. Model systems that contain explicit solvent molecules (Lennard-Jones dimers) are compared to solvent-free systems while varying of the distance between the grafted layers and their molecular parameters, chain length and grafting density. Our study reveals a power-law dependence of macroscopic transport properties on the Weissenberg number, W, beyond linear response. For instance, we find that the kinetic friction constant scales as μ ∼ W0.57 for large values of W. We develop a scaling theory that describes our data and previo…