Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 January 2016
This paper establishes the existence of smooth solutions for the Doi–Edwards rheological model of viscoelastic polymer fluids in shear flows. The problem turns out to be formally equivalent to a K-BKZ equation but with constitutive functions spanning beyond the usual mathematical framework. We prove, for small enough initial data, that the solution remains in the domain of hyperbolicity of the equation for all t≥0.
Dedicated to Professor Denis Serre, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, on the occasion of his 60th birthday anniversary.