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Understanding the elastic properties of polymer melts is necessary for ensuring successful polymer processing and thus producing high-quality plastic parts. This unique book is the first to focus on this important topic.

Starting with the molecular origin of elastic behavior and an explanation of the physical quantities involved, experimental methods and the dependence of elastic behavior on experimental parameters are then presented. Elastic properties of filled and unfilled systems are compared directly, and polymer blends are also considered.

Elastic effects in various applications are included, such as in extrudate swell, internal stresses, and shrink films, to illustrate the importance of this field in the plastics processing industry.

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Appearances of elasticity
Molecular origin of elastic behavior
Physical quantities
Experimental methods
Numerical description of elastic effects
Dependence of elastic behavior on experimental parameters
Elastic properties and molecular structure
Influence of fillers on elastic properties
Elastic behavior of polymer blends
Elastic effects in applications

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Helmut Münstedt is retired professor and former Head of the Institute of Polymer Materials of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He is a leading expert in polymer science and rheology and made important contributions to relationships between structure and properties of polymeric materials. Under his guidance, developments in measurement techniques such as the application of laser-Doppler velocimetry to polymer melts and the Münstedt tensile rheometer were carried out. He is author of over 200 publications in scientific journals, concerning various fields of polymers.

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