NEW ILL-POSED PROBLEMS IN RHEOLOGY

Many methods of material characterization by rheological methods lead to ill-posed problems. The nature of ill-posedness is discussed. In th is light, some such new problems appearing in molecular weight charact erization of homopolymers as well as in the characterization of size d istribution of dispersed phases in polymer blends by rheological techn iques are analyzed. The working capability of a nonlinear regularizati on method is demonstrated with examples of blend theology. The role of Professor Meissner in motivating the research in the field of ill-pos ed problems as well as his important contribution to rheology of polym er blends is outlined.