Mesoscale simulations of the rheology of filled styrene–butadiene compounds

Journal article (2018)

Authors

B. Fitzgerald University of Twente, Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
W. K. Den Otter University of Twente
Stefan Luding University of Twente
W. J. Briels Forschungszentrum Jülich, University of Twente
Research Group
Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Rheology Elastomers Mesoscopic model Coarse grained simulations Filled and unfilled polymers
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Published Date

2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Process and Energy

Research Group

Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems

Abstract

The ability of a highly coarse-grained polymer model is explored to simulate the impact of carbon black (CB) filler concentration on the rheological properties of unvulcanized styrene–butadiene melts—an intermediate stage in the production of styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) commonly used in tyres. Responsive particle dynamics (RaPiD), previously used to study dilute polymeric systems, models entire polymers as single particles interacting through a combination of conservative interactions and transient entanglement-mimicking forces. The simulation parameters are tuned to the linear rheology of the unfilled melt, as measured using a rubber process analyzer (RPA). For the filled compounds, only the interaction between the polymers and fillers is varied. On top of excluded volume interactions, a slight attraction (≈0.1 kBT) between polymers and fillers is required to attain agreement with RPA measurements. The physical origins of the small strength of this interaction are discussed. This method offers potential for future numerical investigations of filled melts.

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