A Phenomenological Model for Linear Viscoelasticity of Monodisperse Linear Polymers

Although the reptational model of Doi and Edwards gives a successful description of viscoelasticity of flexible linear polymers, the success is restricted to the terminal region./sup 1/ There have been several attempts to modify the Doi-Edwards model to describe wider range of time or frequency./sup 2-6/ This paper suggests a simple phenomenological model which can describe wider range of molecular weight than such molecular models can. Although our model is a phenomenological one, it is practical and convenient to predict the effect of molecular weight distribution on linear viscoelastic data because of its simple mathematical form.