Theoretical and Mathematical Models in Polymer Research


Book Description

In this book, Professor Alexander Grosberg, one of the pioneers and leaders in the field of theoretical polymer science has selected the most important topics within polymer science and matched them with experts whocan clearly present the state of the art of each. Using this book readers will learn the fundamental concepts, as well as the techniques that are currently employed on the frontier of science.




Mathematical Modelling for Polymer Processing


Book Description

Polymers are substances made of macromolecules formed by thousands of atoms organized in one (homopolymers) or more (copolymers) groups that repeat themselves to form linear or branched chains, or lattice structures. The concept of polymer traces back to the years 1920's and is one of the most significant ideas of last century. It has given great impulse to indus try but also to fundamental research, including life sciences. Macromolecules are made of sm all molecules known as monomers. The process that brings monomers into polymers is known as polymerization. A fundamental contri bution to the industrial production of polymers, particularly polypropylene and polyethylene, is due to the Nobel prize winners Giulio Natta and Karl Ziegler. The ideas of Ziegler and Natta date back to 1954, and the process has been improved continuously over the years, particularly concerning the design and shaping of the catalysts. Chapter 1 (due to A. Fasano ) is devoted to a review of some results concerning the modelling of the Ziegler- Natta polymerization. The specific ex am pie is the production of polypropilene. The process is extremely complex and all studies with relevant mathematical contents are fairly recent, and several problems are still open.




Mechanics of Solid Polymers


Book Description

Very few polymer mechanics problems are solved with only pen and paper today, and virtually all academic research and industrial work relies heavily on finite element simulations and specialized computer software. Introducing and demonstrating the utility of computational tools and simulations, Mechanics of Solid Polymers provides a modern view of how solid polymers behave, how they can be experimentally characterized, and how to predict their behavior in different load environments. Reflecting the significant progress made in the understanding of polymer behaviour over the last two decades, this book will discuss recent developments and compare them to classical theories. The book shows how best to make use of commercially available finite element software to solve polymer mechanics problems, introducing readers to the current state of the art in predicting failure using a combination of experiment and computational techniques. Case studies and example Matlab code are also included. As industry and academia are increasingly reliant on advanced computational mechanics software to implement sophisticated constitutive models – and authoritative information is hard to find in one place - this book provides engineers with what they need to know to make best use of the technology available. Helps professionals deploy the latest experimental polymer testing methods to assess suitability for applications Discusses material models for different polymer types Shows how to best make use of available finite element software to model polymer behaviour, and includes case studies and example code to help engineers and researchers apply it to their work




Applied Mathematical Models and Experimental Approaches in Chemical Science


Book Description

This new book focuses on nanomaterial development as well as investigations of combustion and explosion processes. It presents valuable information on the modeling of processes and on quantum chemical calculations and leading-edge research from around the world in this dynamic field, focusing on concepts above formal experimental techniques and theoretical methods of chemical physics for micro- and nanotechnologies. Also presented are non-linear kinetic appearances and their possible applications.




Materials Behavior


Book Description

The development of advanced materials has become extremely important in the last decade, being widely used in academic and industrial research. This book examines the potential of advanced materials as well as nanotechnology to improve fiber science from fibril to fabric mode, to create better materials and products for a variety of aspects. The book presents research advances in materials behavior using fractal analysis, mathematical modeling and simulation, and other methods. Examined are electrical, mechanical, optical, and magnetic properties; size; morphology; and chemical behavior of such materials as aerogels, polymer films, nanocomposite materials, natural composites, catalysis, and more with a view to their application in the medical, engineering, and textile fields. With chapters written by eminent scientists, the book offers valuable information for academics, researchers, and engineering professionals. Contributions range from new methods to novel applications of existing methods to help readers gain understanding of the material and/or structural behavior of new and advanced systems.




Mathematical Models for Dental Materials Research


Book Description

This book presents a mechanistic approach—mathematical modeling—for carrying out dental materials research. This approach allows researchers to go beyond the null hypothesis and obtain a solution that is more general and therefore predictive for conditions other than those considered in a study. Hence it can be used either on its own or to complement the commonly used statistical approach. Through a series of practical problems with wide-ranging application, the reader will be guided on: How to construct a mathematical model for the behavior of dental materials by making informed assumptions of the physical, chemical, or mechanical situation How to simplify the model by making suitable simplifications How to calibrate the model by calculating the values of key parameters using experimental results How to refine the model when there are discrepancies between predictions and experiments Only elementary calculus is required to follow the examples and all the problems can be solved by using MS Excel© spreadsheets. This is an ideal book for dental materials researchers without a strong mathematical background who are interested in applying a more mechanistic approach to their research to give deeper insight into the problem at hand. Advance praise for Mathematical Models for Dental Materials Research: “This is a nice addition for research students on how to conduct their work and how to manage data analysis. It brings together a number of important aspects of dental materials investigations which has been missing in the literature. The practical examples make it much easier to understand.” – Michael F. Burrow, Clinical Professor in Prosthodontics, The University of Hong Kong “The great strengths of this volume are the real world examples of dental materials research in the successive chapters. In turn, this is an outcome of the outstanding expertise of both authors. I warmly recommend this book to the dental biomaterials community worldwide.” – David C. Watts, Professor of Biomaterials Science, University of Manchester, UK




Field Theoretical Tools for Polymer and Particle Physics


Book Description

The book is written for advanced graduate students. The topics have been selected to present methods and models that have applications in both particle physics and polymer physics. The lectures may serve as a guide through more recent research activities and illustrate the applicability of joint methods in different contexts. The book deals with analytic tools (e.g. random walk models, polymer expansion), numerical tools (e.g. Langevin dynamics), and common models (the three-dimensional Gross-Neveu-Model).




Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Volume 3


Book Description

Understanding mathematical modeling is fundamental in chemical engineering. This book reviews, introduces, and develops the mathematical models that are most frequently encountered in sophisticated chemical engineering domains. The volume provides a collection of models illustrating the power and richness of the mathematical sciences in supplying insight into the operation of important real-world systems. It fills a gap within modeling texts, focusing on applications across a broad range of disciplines. The first part of the book discusses the general components of the modeling process and highlights the potential of modeling in the production of nanofibers. These chapters discuss the general components of the modeling process and the evolutionary nature of successful model building in the electrospinning process. Electrospinning is the most versatile technique for the preparation of continuous nanofibers obtained from numerous materials. This section of book summarizes the state-of-the art in electrospinning as well as updates on theoretical aspects and applications. Part 2 of the book presents a selection of special topics on issues in applied chemistry and chemical engineering, including nanocomposite coating processes by electrocodeposition method, entropic factors conformational interactions, and the application of artificial neural network and meta-heuristic algorithms. This volume covers a wide range of topics in mathematical modeling, computational science, and applied mathematics. It presents a wealth of new results in the development of modeling theories and methods, advancing diverse areas of applications and promoting interdisciplinary interactions between mathematicians, scientists, engineers and representatives from other disciplines.




Dynamic Model Development: Methods, Theory and Applications


Book Description

Detailed mathematical models are increasingly being used by companies to gain competitive advantage through such applications as model-based process design, control and optimization. Thus, building various types of high quality models for processing systems has become a key activity in Process Engineering. This activity involves the use of several methods and techniques including model solution techniques, nonlinear systems identification, model verification and validation, and optimal design of experiments just to name a few. In turn, several issues and open-ended problems arise within these methods, including, for instance, use of higher-order information in establishing parameter estimates, establishing metrics for model credibility, and extending experiment design to the dynamic situation. The material covered in this book is aimed at allowing easier development and full use of detailed and high fidelity models. Potential applications of these techniques in all engineering disciplines are abundant, including applications in chemical kinetics and reaction mechanism elucidation, polymer reaction engineering, and physical properties estimation. On the academic side, the book will serve to generate research ideas. Contains wide coverage of statistical methods applied to process modelling Serves as a recent compilation of dynamic model building tools Presents several examples of applying advanced statistical and modelling methods to real process systems problems




Random Polymer Models


Book Description

This volume introduces readers to the world of disordered systems and to some of the remarkable probabilistic techniques developed in the field. The author explores in depth a class of directed polymer models to which much attention has been devoted in the last 25 years, in particular in the fields of physical and biological sciences. The models treated have been widely used in studying, for example, the phenomena of polymer pinning on a defect line, the behavior of copolymers in proximity to an interface between selective solvents and the DNA denaturation transition. In spite of the apparent heterogeneity of this list, in mathematical terms, a unified vision emerges. One is in fact dealing with the natural statistical mechanics systems built on classical renewal sequences by introducing one-body potentials. This volume is also a self-contained mathematical account of the state of the art for this class of statistical mechanics models.