The behavior of polymer solutions in elongational flow has been treated quite recently in the literature but scattered in disparate scientific journals not easily accessible. This is very surprising since elongational flow is known to be very effective on polymer chains and thus more interesting than the already wellknown shear flow. This book covers for the first time the subject from the point of view of the various disciplines. It achieves a balance between science, experiment and technology and integrates the fundamental and practical aspects.

The behavior of polymer solutions in simple shear flows has been the subject of considerable research in the past. On the other hand, reports on polymers in elongational flow have appeared comparatively recently in the literature. Elongational flow with an inherent low vorticity is known to be more effective in extending polymer chains than simple shear flow and thus is more interesting from the point of view of basic (molecular chain dynamics at high deformation) and applied polymer science (rheology, fiber extrusion, drag reduction, flow through porous media). Undoubtly, one landmark in the...