The Role of Pressure in the Flow Behaviour of Polymeric Systems: Application and Implementation Habilitation Thesis Summary

Tomáš Sedláček

The presented habilitation thesis provides a comprehensive review of the field of characterization of pressure-affected flow properties of polymeric materials, as an appropriate tool for the optimization of their manufacturing processes. Within this framework, individual accessible methods enabling the description of pressure influence on polymer melt flow behaviour are presented, values of the pressure sensitivity coefficients of a number of unfilled and filled polymeric systems determined by employing a high-pressure capillary rheometer are tabulated, moreover, the omission and incorporation of viscosity pressure dependencies are illustrated through an injection moulding process simulation, finally, together with a demonstration of the possibility of the modification of the viscosity and free-volume behaviour relations for polymer melts under various conditions of temperature and pressure, the feasibility of pressure dependencies of viscosity prediction based on a knowledge of PVT diagrams and temperature-affected flow behaviour are introduced.