Flow induced crystallisation of polymers

Abstract

This tutorial review describes the state of current research and findings on the phenomena of polymer crystallisation under processing conditions, with particular emphasis on the effects of fluid flow. Preliminarily, it is stated why the crystallisation processes are relevant in polymer science, then the motivation of the study is briefly outlined. The remaining of the paper is divided in two parts. In the first part of the review, the basics of polymer crystallisation are summarized; the main factors acting on the process are identified; and the methods to investigate and to quantify the crystallization are described. A brief summary of the modelling approaches is also proposed. In the second part of the review, a similar path was followed in order to analyse the complex framework of phenomena collectively known as flow induced crystallisation. Therefore, the experimental techniques used are listed and the main findings are reported. A reference to the modelling approaches proposed in the literature is also summarized. Throughout the review, a selection of the literature in the field is of course cited.