Microstructure and dynamics of a polymer glass subjected to instantaneous shear strain (original) (raw)
2008, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
The application of instantaneous shear deformations to a polymer glass modifies the energy landscape of the glass in non-trivial ways. Using molecular dynamics simulations on a freely jointed chain model, we investigate the effect of the strain on the dynamical heterogeneities in the glassy system. The resulting behaviour can be separated into two regimes: elastic for small shear deformations, and plastic for large deformations. Dynamic heterogeneity in the system tends to diminish with deformation. This increased homogenization can be seen, for instance, through changes in the distribution of particle mobilities, both in space and in time, as the glass relaxes following an affine deformation. We are able to directly correlate changes in the overall diffusion in the system with local configurations of mobile and immobile particles. The effect of the deformation on the ageing process is briefly addressed, as we present some new insight into the local dynamics of the polymer chains.
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