Abstract: | The unified viscosity function curves proposed earlier by the authors have an inherent limitation in the low shear rate region. This limitation is the effect of using the melt flow index as a normalizing factor to obtain the coalesced curves, which itself is insensitive to molecular parameters such as molecular weight distribution. A single integral constitutive equation of the BKZ type is used to derive the viscosity function which would be useful in generating unified curves based on the melt flow index but devoid of the limitation of molecular weight distribution effects in the low shear rate region. |