Flow-induced deformations can lead to irreversible changes in the structure of a polymeric fluid; if the rate of extension far exceeds the rate of relaxation, then the polymer chain can be broken. Mechanical degradation of polymers in extensional flow has long been recognised [30] and leads to a reduction in the average molecular weight. A-Alamry et al. [1] have recently reported evidence of flow-induced polymer degradation in DoD jetting. Central scission is observed for polystyrene in a number of good solvents under certain jetting conditions for a bounded range of molecular weights. Since only those molecules that are fully extended can be fractured at the centre of the polymer chain [29], in this paper we investigate whether flow-induced central scission is possible under the conditions of DoD jetting.
