Siloxane-based polymers (polysiloxanes) are susceptible to temporary shear-thinning that manifests as a reduction of elastohydrodynamic film thickness with increasing entrainment speed or effective shear rate. The departure from Newtonian film thickness can be predicted with the power-law exponent ns, an indicator of the severity of shear-thinning in a polymeric fluid that is influenced by the macromolecular structure. In this paper, a combination of extant rheological and tribological models is applied to determine the power-law exponent of several polysiloxanes using film thickness measurements. Film thickness data at several temperatures and slide-to-roll ratios are used to validate the methodology for several siloxane-based polymers with alkyl and aryl branches.
Correlation of Polysiloxane Molecular Structure to Shear-Thinning Power-Law Exponent Using Elastohydrodynamic Film Thickness Measurements
e-mail: Zolpert@uwplatt.edu
Science and Engineering;
e-mail: Zolpert@uwplatt.edu
Science and Engineering;
Contributed by the Tribology Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF TRIBOLOGY. Manuscript received July 30, 2014; final manuscript received February 18, 2015; published online April 15, 2015. Assoc. Editor: Zhong Min Jin.
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Zolper, T. J., Shiller, P., Jungk, M., Marks, T. J., Chung, Y., Greco, A., Doll, G., LotfizadehDehkordi, B., and Wang, Q. (July 1, 2015). "Correlation of Polysiloxane Molecular Structure to Shear-Thinning Power-Law Exponent Using Elastohydrodynamic Film Thickness Measurements." ASME. J. Tribol. July 2015; 137(3): 031503. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029940
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