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“The
time has come”
the penguin said,
“To speak of many things:
Of flowing macromolecules,
And little beads and springs
That join together into ‘chains’
Or even ‘stars’ or ‘rings’”
Reproduced from:
R. B. Bird, & C. F. Curtiss, & R. C. Armstrong, & O. Hassager,
Dynamics of Polymeric Liquids, 2nd ed., John Wiley, New York,
1987, Vol. 2.
The Molecular Rheology Group (MRG)
The Molecular Rheology Group at Monash University, under the leadership of Dr Ravi Prakash Jagadeeshan, is currently engaged in research on a wide range of both model and industrially important polymeric systems. Specific research activities include the examination of the influence of solvent mediated interactions on the rheological behavior of dilute polymer solutions; the study of the response to shear and extensional flow of solutions of DNA and other biomacromolecules; and the numerical simulation of free-surface flows.
What is Rheology Anyway?
Many modern industries require the handling and processing of complex
materials, both as raw materials and as end products. To name just a few,
the plastics, foodstuffs, paper, pharmaceuticals, paints and adhesives
industries, use (or produce) materials such as rubber, polymer melts and
solutions, slurries and pastes, electro-rheological fluids, emulsions,
granular materials, and composites, among others.
The most significant difference between these complex materials and “simpler”
materials, such as air, water and steel, is the fact that the microscopic
structure or morphology of these materials significantly influences their
material properties. The inadequacy of classical approaches such as Newtonian
fluid mechanics and Linear elasticity to describe the flow and deformation
of these complex materials has given rise to a new discipline called rheology
(from the Greek word rheos for flow) that draws on knowledge from physics,
chemistry, mathematics, chemical engineering, computer science, biophysics,
and materials science, among others, in order to obtain a quantitative
understanding of the behavior of these materials. The ultimate aim of
rheology is to guide improvements in complex material handling and processing,
and to help in the development and production of novel products for specialized
applications.
Karinya
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