A fluid particle method for the discretization of the Oldroyd-B model with thermal fluctuations

We present a fluid particle model for a polymer solution in non-isothermal situations. The state of the fluid particles is characterized by the thermodynamic variables and a configuration tensor that describes the underlying molecular orientation of the polymer molecules. The specification of very simple physical mechanisms inspired on the dynamics of single polymer molecules allows one, with the help of the GENERIC formalism, to derive the equations of motion for a set of fluid particles carrying polymer molecules in suspension. In addition the model allows for the easy introduction of thermal fluctuations in the physical variables, i.e. the configuration tensor. The specific case of Hookean forces between beads produces a stochastic Oldroyd-B model useful to describe a polymeric solution at the mesoscopic level.