Flow birefringence of temporary polymer networks

The statistical theory of temporary polymer networks is an effort of describing the macroscopic behavior of such networks based on molecular behavior analysis. The calculation of the stress tensor of a network and the satisfactory comparison with experimental viscosity results was shown before [Rheol. Acta 28 (1989) 193]. Here we present the foresights of the theory as regards flow birefringence. The polarizability tensor is calculated first and then the birefringence of a four-functional temporary polymer network is estimated for a stationary simple shear flow. The dependence of the calculated quantities on shear rate is in line with existing experimental evidence.