Large amplitude oscillatory shear behavior of the network model for associating polymeric systems

To understand the large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) behavior of complex fluids, we have investigated the flow behavior of a network model in the LAOS environment. We applied the LAOS flow to the model proposed by Vaccaro and Marrucci (2000), which was originally developed to describe the system of associating telechelic polymers. The model was found to predict at least three different types of LAOS behavior; strain thinning (G' and G" decreasing), strong strain overshoot (G' and G" increasing followed by decreasing), and weak strain overshoot (G' decreasing, G" increasing followed by decreasing). The overshoot behavior in the strain sweep test, which il often observed in some complex fluid systems with little explanation, could be explained in terms of the model parameters, or in terms of the overall balance between the creation and loss rates of the network junctions, which are continually created and destroyed due to thermal and flow energy. This model does not predict strain hardening behavior because of the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic (FENE) type nonlinear effect of loss rate. However, the model predicts the LAOS behavior of most of the complex fluids observed in the experiments.he experiments.