Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Chain Folding for Polyethylene Subjected to Vibration Excitation

Abstract

We propose a molecular dynamics method with vibration excitation, named as VEMD, to investigate the vibration effect on chain folding for polymer molecule. The VEMD method is based on the introduction of periodic force, the amplitude and frequency of which can be adjusted, and the method was applied to the folding simulation of a polyethylene chain. Simulation results show that the vibration excitation significantly affects the folding of the polyethylene, and frequency and amplitude of the vibration excitation play key roles in VEMD. Different frequencies and amplitudes will determine how and to what extent does the vibration excitation affect the folding process of the polyethylene structure.