Rheology-Informed Additive Manufacturing of Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer rheology serves an essential role in guiding various plastics processing methods. Due to the recent explosive interest in additive manufacturing apart from traditional polymer processing methods, it is crucial to bridge the rheological findings with relevant manufacturing conditions, shape retainment properties, and post-printed material properties. In situ or in-line experiments are employed to simultaneously probe polymers' structural and rheological behaviors during printing or jetting. A deeper understanding of the mechanically induced phenomena, such as phase transition or anisotropy, also reveals the effect of chain alignment or filler orientation on the structure–property–processing relationship. From the perspective of rheology, linear viscoelastic relaxation and diffusion of polymer chains across the printed layers dictate the interlayer strengths of parts. At the same time, the correlation between structural and nonlinear viscoelastic parameters is vital to better understand the complex flow of polymers during processing. Furthermore, extensive modeling and simulation of the flow behavior of polymers can enable the prediction of the processing parameters for 3D printing.

The current Special Issue of Polymers aims to publish original research papers and reviews on the latest advances in using rheology to guide the additive manufacturing of polymers and composites. Therefore, topics might include but are not limited to the following: (1) in situ rheological and structural characterizations; (2) shear- or extensional-induced phenomena of polymers; (3) modeling and experimental work on the governing rheological parameters for the printing–property relationship; (4) simulation of the additive manufacturing process based on rheological findings.

We look forward to receiving your work.

Dr. Zhiyuan Qian
Dr. Renxuan Xie
Guest Editors

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