Date and Location

Saturday and Sunday
October 20 & 21, 2001

The course will begin at 8:30 AM, Saturday, October 20, 2001.

This short course is held in conjunction with the
73rd Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology
October 21-25, 2001

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Instructor

William H. Tuminello obtained a Batchelor's Degree in Chemistry at Harpur College of Binghamton University in 1967. He served almost three years in the U.S. Army Engineer Corps and was discharged as a First Lieutenant in 1969. He obtained a Master's Degree in Chemistry (1971) at the University of Notre Dame while working in the Plastics Division of Uniroyal, Inc. He then participated in the Chemistry Department Graduate Program of the University of Technology, Loughborough, England where he received a PhD in Polymer Physical Chemistry in 1973. He was then employed by the DuPont Company in 1973 until the present. He has worked on fiber spinning, plastics toughening, advanced composites, coatings, supercritical fluid applications and dissolution of fluoropolymers and polymer melt rheology. His chief areas of expertise are relating molecular features to polymer melt rheology, (particularly fluoropolymers and polyolefins) and solvents for TeflonŽ-type fluoropolymers. He has obtained 39 publications, 16 patents, 8 patents pending, and over 50 invited presentations during his DuPont career.

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Course Description

This course is designed to be suitable for a wide range of technical professionals including engineers, chemists and physicists, as well as students in these disciplines. Both industrial and academic professionals should benefit. The emphasis of the course will be using shear melt rheology as a tool to characterize polymers. The most commonly used measurement techniques and the structural interpretation of the properties derived will be covered.

Accurate and detailed characterization of polymer structure is important for establishing the basis of patents, controlling polymer manufacture, understanding and controlling polymer processing and is the cornerstone for any serious scientific research. Melt rheology is one of the most sensitive tools for elucidating polymer structure. The shapes of both viscosity and elasticity functions correlate with structural features such as molecular weight and distribution, long-chain branching, gel content, multiple phases and plasticization. This course will demonstrate how viscosity and elasticity information are utilized to calculate molecular weight distribution and how molecular weight distribution is used to calculate the viscosity and elasticity. Correlations of rheological properties with long-chain branching will be presented along with some of the latest work on quantitatively determining rheological properties of long-chain branched materials. The process of gelation leads to profound changes in the state of a fluid and these changes can be sensitively monitored with rheological methods. The presence of multiple phases greatly compounds rheological response. Some quantitative relationships will be discussed. Plasticization, or molecular blending of polymers with low molecular weight diluents, can modify rheological properties in predictable ways and can sometimes help in specifying the structural cause of rheological responses.

Three of the most common ways of measuring rheological properties will be emphasized: steady state flows, oscillatory flow and creep/recovery. All of the techniques covered relate to commercially available instruments. Capillary viscometry and rotational rheometry will be presented in terms of steady state flow. Oscillatory flow will be covered with respect to rotational rheometers. The most sensitive rheological technique we will discuss will be creep/recovery and rotational rheometers will be emphasized. The effects of temperature and deformation rate will be discussed. Experimental difficulties and common errors will be brought out. Transforming creep/recovery data to greatly extend the viscosity and elasticity property range to lower deformation rates will be demonstrated. Examples will be given of the beneficial combination of rheological data with more classical characterization tools, such as size exclusion chromatography and light scattering, to solve structural problems neither could do alone. Linear viscoelastic properties will be emphasized because theoretical interpretation has been worked out most completely in this area. However, the relationship of linear shear response to non-linear shear and extensional properties will also be discussed.

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Registration Information

The member registration fee for the two-day course is $450 prior to October 1, 2001. For registration on or after October 1, the fee will be $550. Student-member rates are $225 prior to October 1 and $275 on or after October 1. Registration fees for non-members are listed on the short course registration form.

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Registration Form and Lodging Accommodations

Short Course Registration Form

Lodging Accommodations

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