Modeling Rheological Properties of HDPE Based on Polymerization Kinetics

A three‐step modeling approach to obtain rheological properties from the kinetics of the metallocene‐catalyzed homopolymerization of ethene is developed. With that, linear as well as slightly branched high‐density polyethylene is investigated. Therefore, a deterministic kinetic model of the metallocene‐catalyzed polymerization of ethene is set up and coupled with a Monte Carlo algorithm to obtain molecular weight distributions and polymeric microstructures. The topological information is used as input for the rheology model to compute linear and non‐linear rheological properties.