0000000000306643
AUTHOR
C. Bennemann
Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation of the glass transition of polymers
Two coarse-grained models for polymer chains in dense glass-forming polymer melts are studied by computer simulation: the bond-fluctuation model on a simple cubic lattice, where a bond-length potential favors long bonds, is treated by dynamic Monte Carlo methods, and a bead-spring model in the continuum with a Lennard-Jones potential between the beads is treated by Molecular Dynamics. While the dynamics of both models differ for short length scales and associated time scales, on mesoscopic spatial and temporal scales both models behave similarly. In particular, the mode coupling theory of the glass transition can be used to interpret the slowing down of the undercooled polymer melt. For the…
Dynamics of a supercooled polymer melt above the mode-coupling critical temperature: cage versus polymer-specific effects
This paper reports results of molecular dynamics simulations for a glassy polymer melt consisting of short, non-entangled chains. The temperature region studied covers the supercooled state of the melt above the mode-coupling critical temperature. The analysis focuses on the interplay of simple-liquid and polymer-specific effects. One can clearly distinguish two regimes: a regime of small and one of large monomer displacements. The first regime corresponds to motion of a monomer in its local environment. It is dominated by the cage effect and well described by the idealized mode-coupling theory. The second regime is governed by the late-β/early-α process. In this regime the connectivity of …
Molecular-dynamics simulation of a glassy polymer melt: Incoherent scattering function
We report results of molecular-dynamics simulations for a glassy polymer melt consisting of short, linear bead-spring chains. It was shown in previous work that this onset of the glassy slowing down is compatible with the predictions of the mode coupling theory. The physical process of `caging' of a monomer by its spatial neighbors leads to a distinct two step behavior in the particle mean square displacements. In this work we analyze the effects of this caging process on the Rouse description of the melt's dynamics. We show that the Rouse theory is applicable for length and time scales above the typical scales for the caging process. Futhermore, the monomer displacement is compared with si…
Molecular-dynamics simulation of a glassy polymer melt: Rouse model and cage effect
We report results of molecular-dynamics simulations for a glassy polymer melt consisting of short, linear bead-spring chains. It was shown in previous work that this onset of the glassy slowing down is compatible with the predictions of the mode coupling theory. The physical process of `caging' of a monomer by its spatial neighbors leads to a distinct two step behavior in the particle mean square displacements. In this work we analyze the effects of this caging process on the Rouse description of the melt's dynamics. We show that the Rouse theory is applicable for length and time scales above the typical scales for the caging process. Futhermore, the monomer displacement is compared with si…