Recovery of Realistic Polymer Melts after Simple Shear Flows

This work examines the constrained recovery of polydisperse polymer melts after steady shear flow. Calculations are performed in the framework of the Curtiss-Bird theory both by conventional numerical integrations and by nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics simulations. The latter approach is shown to have significant advantages. The predicted curves of ultimate recovery versus dimensionless shear rate exhibit unusual maxima; these are compared to experimental data for recovery.