27th Annual James F. Bell Memorial Lecture In Continuum Mechanics: Gary Grest

Description

The 27th Annual James F. Bell Memorial Lecture in Continuum Mechanics will be presented by Gary Grest from the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His lecture will be titled "Numerical Simulations of Entangled Polymer Melts: From Segmental Dynamics to Viscoelastic Response." This event is hosted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The first 50 people may attend this lecture in person; the lecture will also be presented via Zoom. All in-person events at Johns Hopkins must follow university COVID-19 policies. See current guidelines online.

Abstract:

From the first numerical simulations of single polymer chains in dilute solution to current exascale simulations of highly entangled polymer melts, computer simulations have played a critical role in polymer physics. Numerical simulations have provided microscopic insight into macroscopic behavior. Here the potential of computations to polymer physics in the realm of new computer architectures will be introduced in view of the fundamental insight connecting theory and experiments attained thus far. Capturing the wide range of coupled length and time scales that govern the unique macroscopic, viscoelastic behavior of polymers has been one of the major challenges to surmount. Starting with the simple bead-spring models, through atomistically inspired coarse-grained approaches, it is now possible to capture not only chain mobility but also the mechanic response of entangled polymers melts and suspensions. With current and future computational resources, numerical simulations provide a unique understanding of viscoelastic response and shear and extensional flow of entangled melts for complex architectures bridging the dynamics on the atomic length scale with the macroscopic response.