Draw resonance in film casting of viscoelastic fluids: A linear stability analysis

In order to understand the role of viscoelasticity on draw resonance in the isothermal film casting process, a steady state analysis and a linear stability analysis for three-dimensional flow disturbances have been conducted. The constitutive equation used is a modified convected Maxwell model, with shear-rate dependent viscosity and fluid characteristic time. The numerical results indicate that the flow is stable below a lower critical draw ratio and above an upper critical draw ratio. Shear thinning in viscosity reduces the lower critical draw ratio and somewhat increases the upper critical draw ratio—thereby enlarging the region of instability. Slower shear reduction in fluid characteristic time dramatically decreases the upper critical draw ratio but has no significant effect on the lower critical draw ratio; therefore, fluids with higher characteristic time are more stable.     

Effect of melt viscosity of polypropylene on fibrillation of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer in in situ composite film

 Various grades of polypropylene were melt blended with a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer, a block copolymer of p-hydroxy benzoic acid and ethylene terephthalate (60/40 mole ratio). The blends were extruded as cast films at different values of draw ratio (slit width/film thickness). Fibrillation of TLCP dispersed phase with high fiber aspect ratio (length/width) was obtained with the matrix of low melt flow rate, i.e., high viscosity and with increasing film drawing. Melt viscosities of pure components and blends measured using capillary rheometer were found to decrease with increasing shear rate and temperature. Viscosity ratios (dispersed phase to matrix phase) of the systems being investigated at 255 °C at the shear rate ranged from 10² to 10⁴ s⁻¹, were found to lie between 0.04 and 0.15. The addition of a few percent of elastomeric compatibilizers; a tri-block copolymer SEBS, EPDM rubber and maleated-EPDM, was found to affect the melt viscosity of the blend and hence the morphology. Among these three compatibilizers, SEBS was found to provide the best fibrillation. Received: 10 January 2000/Accepted: 24 January 2000     

Thermal instabilities in melt spinning of viscoelastic fibers

Nonisothermal melt spinning of viscoelastic fibers for which the viscosity varies in a step-like manner with respect to temperature is studied in this work. A set of one-dimensional equations based on the slender-jet approximation and the upper convected Maxwell model is used to describe the melt spinning process. The process is characterized by the force required to pull the fiber, the strength of external heating, and the draw ratio, the square of the ratio of the fiber diameter at the spinneret to that at the take-up roller. For low levels of elasticity and sufficiently strong external heating, there can be three pulling forces consistent with the same draw ratio, similar to the Newtonian case studied by Wylie et al. [31]. For higher levels of elasticity, the process exhibits a draw ratio plateau where the draw ratio hardly changes with the pulling force, reflecting a competition between thermal and elastic effects. As in the Newtonian case, external heating introduces a new instability – termed thermal instability – that is absent in isothermal systems. Linear stability analysis reveals that external heating improves stability for low levels of elasticity, but can worsen stability for higher levels of elasticity, which is again a consequence of the interplay between thermal and elastic effects. Nonlinear simulations indicate that the predictions of linear stability analysis carry over to the nonlinear regime, and show that unstable systems exhibit limit-cycle behavior. The results of the present work demonstrate a possible mechanism through which external heating can stabilize the melt spinning of viscoelastic fibers.     

Nonlinear instability during the isothermal draw of optical fibers

The nonlinear instability of the isothermal draw of optical fibers from cylindric preforms is studied. The unsteady model of the process is solved numerically, accounting for the effects of inertia, gravity and surface forces. The effect of viscosity and gravity on the nonlinear stability of the process is studied. The possibility of draw resonance occurring is shown for a rate ratio much lower than the critical one, obtained when solving the simplified model. The proposed solution can be used to study technological stability and to model the draw of fibers of other materials which behave as Newtonian fluids.     

Selective withdrawal of polymer solutions: Experiments

Selective withdrawal refers to the process of drawing one or both components of stratified fluids through a tube placed near their interface. This paper reports an experimental study of selective withdrawal of viscous and viscoelastic liquids under air. The key mechanism of interest is how the viscoelasticity in the bulk liquid affects the evolution of the free surface. This is investigated by comparing the interfacial behavior between a Newtonian silicone oil and two dilute polymer solutions. While the surface undergoes smooth and gradual deformation for Newtonian liquids, for the polymer solutions there is a critical transition where the surface forms a cusp from which an air jet emanates toward the suction tube. This transition shows a hysteresis when the flow rate or location of the tube is varied. In the subcritical state, the surface of polymer solutions deform much more than its Newtonian counterpart but the deformation is more localized. The interfacial behavior of the polymer solutions can be attributed to the large polymer stress that develops under the surface because of predominantly extensional deformation.     

On the stability of natural convection in a porous vertical slab saturated with an Oldroyd-B fluid

The stability of the conduction regime of natural convection in a porous vertical slab saturated with an Oldroyd-B fluid has been studied. A modified Darcy’s law is utilized to describe the flow in a porous medium. The eigenvalue problem is solved using Chebyshev collocation method and the critical Darcy–Rayleigh number with respect to the wave number is extracted for different values of physical parameters. Despite the basic state being the same for Newtonian and Oldroyd-B fluids, it is observed that the basic flow is unstable for viscoelastic fluids—a result of contrast compared to Newtonian as well as for power-law fluids. It is found that the viscoelasticity parameters exhibit both stabilizing and destabilizing influence on the system. Increase in the value of strain retardation parameter \(\Lambda _2 \) portrays stabilizing influence on the system while increasing stress relaxation parameter \(\Lambda _1\) displays an opposite trend. Also, the effect of increasing ratio of heat capacities is to delay the onset of instability. The results for Maxwell fluid obtained as a particular case from the present study indicate that the system is more unstable compared to Oldroyd-B fluid.     

Drop-on-demand drop formation of colloidal suspensions

The drop formation dynamics in the drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet process is studied for model inks including a Newtonian liquid and colloidal dispersions. The ink shear viscosity is a parameter often adjusted in tuning the DOD drop formation process. Apparent shear viscosity measured at low shear rates is currently used to characterize inkjet inks throughout both the inkjet industry and academia. However, during the ejection process in inkjet printing, very high shear rates (above 1 × 10⁵ s⁻¹) are involved. In this paper, the drop formation characteristics at 10 kHz drop formation rate in a DOD mode of a simple Newtonian liquid are compared with those of a colloidal suspension system which has the same low-shear-rate viscosity as the simple Newtonian liquid, but significantly different high-shear-rate viscosity. Under conditions of good jetting, the drop formation dynamics of the colloidal suspension is similar to that of the simple Newtonian liquid of similar low-shear viscosity, with only slight systematic differences observed. Good jetting is, however, difficult to obtain in the colloidal particle inks, with non-straight trajectories and non-axisymmetric ligaments commonly observed. These observations suggest that evaporation, nonuniform wetting, and particle-related changes in properties play a role when poor jetting behavior is observed for colloidal inks.     

Effect of phase change on the rheology and stability of paraffin wax-in-water Pickering emulsions

“Pickering” emulsions are widely found in nature and industry including food, pharmaceuticals, and oil industries. Often, Pickering emulsion studied have a Newtonian dispersed phase. However, the dispersed phase can be non-Newtonian such as one that can be subjected to a phase change under certain experimental conditions. This work examines how changing the physical state of dispersed phase alters the shear stability and bulk viscoelasticity of o/w emulsions. Model silica-stabilized, paraffin wax-in-water emulsions are synthesized. The wax, with a melting temperature of about 55 ^°C is subjected to a phase change by changing the temperature between 15 and 80 ^°C. At lower temperatures (< 55 ^°C), the droplet deformability and particle mobility at the interface are significantly restricted while at higher temperatures (> 55 ^°C), the wax melts and expands, making the emulsion droplets deformable and the particles more relaxed. These directly affect bulk emulsion rheology. Flow curves and oscillatory shear experiments indicate that emulsion droplets are flocculated and the emulsions behave as elastic solids. These properties are directly influenced by temperature, which alters the state of aggregation and network-structure of the emulsion droplets. The effect of emulsion concentration is also analyzed. Three different concentrations are tried—15, 30, and 45 vol% (as measured at 25 ^°C when the wax is solid). At a given temperature, the rheological properties seem to scale with concentration. Further, we show that the emulsions are sensitive to destabilization (gelation) under flow with the sensitivity directly varying with temperature and magnitude of shear fields (steady shear) applied.     

Surfactant spreading on a thin weakly viscoelastic film

A mathematical model is presented for surfactant-driven thin weakly viscoelastic film flows on a flat, impermeable plane. The Oldroyd-B constitutive relation is used to model the viscoelastic fluid. Lubrication theory and a perturbation expansion in powers of the Weissenberg number (We) are employed, which give rise to non-linear coupled evolution equations governing the transport of insoluble surfactant and thin liquid film thickness. Spreading on a Newtonian film is recovered to leading order and corrections to viscoelasticity are obtained at order We. These equations are solved numerically over a wide range of viscosity ratio (ratio of solvent viscosity to the sum of solvent and polymeric viscosities), pre-existing surfactant level and Peclet number (Pe). The effect of viscoelasticity on surfactant transport and fluid flow is investigated and the mechanisms underlying this effect are explored. Shear stress, streamwise normal stress and the temporal rate of change of extra shear stress generated from gradients in surfactant concentration dominate thin viscoelastic film flows whereas only shear stresses play a role in Newtonian thin film flows. Our results also reveal that, for weak viscoelasticity, the influence of viscosity ratio on the evolution of surfactant concentration and film thickness can be significant and varies considerably, depending on the concentration of pre-existing surfactant and surfactant surface diffusivity.     

Physics of the formation of fiber lightguides

A fiber lightguide is a fine continuous or tubular transparent filament. Fiber lightguides are formed from the liquid mass exuded through a dye or drawn from a suitable blank. Both of these processes can be considered using the equations of the hydrodynamics of an incompressible Newtonian liquid. (Polymers, which are not Newtonian liquids, are not considered here.) The drawing of a continuous glass fiber from a dye is considered in [1]. The drawing of a microcapillary from a dye is considered in [2], where a qualitative consideration is given which is insufficient for an understanding of the effect of different parameters of the process on the dimensions of the drawn microcapillary. In this paper we consider the formation of a microcapillary from a tubular blank using the approximation of an incompressible Newtonian liquid with a variable viscosity determined by the given temperature distribution. The effect of surface tension and of the excess pressure produced in the channel to counteract the surface tension are taken into account. It is assumed that the drawing process is steady, the blank has thin walls and is axisymmetrical, and the transition to a microcapillary occurs smoothly. With these assumptions the problem of obtaining the shape of the transition and the dimensions of the microcapillary obtained is reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations. The dependence of the dimensions of the microcapillary on the dimensions of the blank and the parameters of the process is established, thereby enabling the process to be optimized.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 2, pp. 167–174, March–April, 1976.The authors thank B. Z. Katsenelenbaum and A. D. Shatrov for useful discussions, A. I. Leonov for a number of observations, and I. V. Aleksandrov, T. V. Bukhtiarov, and A. A. Dyachenko for discussing the results at various stages.     

Stability loss of the micro-fiber in the elastic and viscoelastic matrix near the free convex cylindrical surface

This paper studies the stability loss of the micro-fiber which is near the convex cylindrical surface. It is assumed that the material of the cylinder is viscoelastic and the fiber has the infinitesimal initial imperfection in the form of the periodical curving. Within the scope of the piecewise homogeneous body model with the use of the three-dimensional geometrically non-linear field equations of the theory of viscoelasticity, a method is developed for the investigation of the evaluation of such imperfections. Using the initial imperfection criterion for stability loss, the numerical results on the critical deformation and critical times are presented and discussed. The micro-fibers are classified by the values of the ratio of a modulus of elasticity of the fiber material to that of the matrix material.     

Droplet relaxation in blends with one viscoelastic component: bulk and confined conditions

Using a counter rotating parallel plate shear flow cell, the shape relaxation of deformed droplets in a quiescent matrix is studied microscopically. Both the effects of geometrical confinement and component viscoelasticity are systematically explored at viscosity ratios of 0.45 and 1.5. The flow conditions are varied from a rather low to a nearly critical Ca number. Under all conditions investigated, viscoelasticity of the droplet phase has no influence on shape relaxation, whereas matrix viscoelasticity and geometrical confinement result in a slower droplet retraction. Up to high confinement ratios, the relaxation curves for ellipsoidal droplets can be superposed onto a master curve. Confined droplets with a sigmoidal shape relax in two stages: the first consists of a shape change to an ellipsoid with a limited amount of retraction, and the second is the retraction of this ellipsoid. The latter stage can be described by means of one single relaxation time that can be obtained from the relaxation of initially ellipsoidal droplets. The experimental results are compared to the predictions of a recently published phenomenological model for droplet dynamics in confined systems with viscoelastic components (Minale et al., Langmuir 26:126–132, 2010). However, whereas the model predicts additive effects of geometrical confinement and component viscoelasticity, the experimental data reveal more complex interactions.     

Conjugate heat transfer in the unbounded flow of a viscoelastic fluid past a sphere

This work addresses the conjugate heat transfer of a simplified PTT fluid flowing past an unbounded sphere in the Stokes regime (Re = 0.01). The problem is numerically solved with the finite-volume method assuming axisymmetry, absence of natural convection and constant physical properties. The sphere generates heat at a constant and uniform rate, and the analysis is conducted for a range of Deborah (0 ≤ De ≤ 100), Prandtl (10⁰ ≤ Pr ≤ 10⁵) and Brinkman (0 ≤ Br ≤ 100) numbers, in the presence or absence of thermal contact resistance at the solid–fluid interface and for different conductivity ratios (0.1 ≤ κ ≤ 10). The drag coefficient shows a monotonic decrease with De, whereas the normalized stresses on the sphere surface and in the wake first increase and then decrease with De. A negative wake was observed for the two solvent viscosity ratios tested (β = 0.1 and 0.5), being more intense for the more elastic fluid. In the absence of viscous dissipation, the average Nusselt number starts to decrease with De after an initial increase. Heat transfer enhancement relative to an equivalent Newtonian fluid was observed for the whole range of conditions tested. The dimensionless temperature of the sphere decreases and becomes more homogeneous when its thermal conductivity increases in relation to the conductivity of the fluid, although small changes are observed in the Nusselt number. The thermal contact resistance at the interface increases the average temperature of the sphere, without affecting significantly the shape of the temperature profiles inside the sphere. When viscous dissipation is considered, significant changes are observed in the heat transfer process as Br increases. Overall, a simplified PTT fluid can moderately enhance heat transfer compared to a Newtonian fluid, but increasing De does not necessarily improve heat exchange.     

Prediction of the thermal conductivity of the constituents of fiber reinforced composite laminates

Three empirical formulas are developed to predict the thermal conductivities of fiber-reinforced composite laminates (FRCL) and its constituents. The inherent two or three-dimensional problem that is common in composites is simplified to a one-dimensional problem. The validity of the models is verified through finite element analysis. This method utilizes the parallel and series thermal models of composite walls. The models are tested at different fiber-to-resin volume ratios (30:70–75:25) and various fiber-to-resin thermal conductivity ratios (0.2–5). The predicted thermal conductivity of the fiber can be accurately predicted throughout the spectrum via two models. The first model is a first-order formula (R ² = 0.94) while the second model is a second-order formula (R ² = 0.976). These two models can be used to predict the fiber thermal conductivity based on the easily measured resin and laminate values. A third model to predict the overall laminate thermal conductivity is introduced. The thermal conductivity of the composite panel is predicted with very high accuracy (R ² = 0.995). The thermal conductivity predicted via the use of these models has an excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. Another use of these models is to determine the fiber-to-resin volume ratio (if all thermal conductivities of fiber, resin and laminate are known).     

Stability analysis of a polymer film casting problem

The polymer cast film process consists of stretching a molten polymer film between a flat die and a drawing roll. Drawing instabilities are often encountered and represent a drastic limitation to the process. Newtonian fluid film stretching stability is investigated using two numerical strategies. The first one is a ‘tracking’ method, which consists of solving Stokes equations in the whole fluid area (extrusion die and stretching path) by finite elements. The interface is determined to satisfy a kinematic equation. A domain decomposition meshing technique is used in order to account for a flow singularity resulting from the change in the boundary conditions between the die flow region and the stretching path region. A linear stability method is then applied to this transient kinematic equation in order to investigate the stability of the stationary solution. The second method is a direct finite element simulation in an extended area including the fluid and the surrounding air. The time‐dependent interface is captured by solving an appropriate level‐set function. The agreement between the two methods is fair. The influence of the stretching parameters (Draw ratio and drawing length) is investigated. For a long stretching distance, a critical Draw ratio around 20 delimitating stable and unstable drawing conditions is obtained, and this agrees well with the standard membrane models, which have been developed 40 years ago. When decreasing the stretching distance, the membrane model is no longer valid. The 2D models presented here point out a significant increase of the critical Draw ratio, and this is consistent with experimental results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multilayer film casting of modified Giesekus fluids Part 2. Linear stability analysis

A linear stability analysis of the multilayer film casting of polymeric fluids has been conducted. A modified Giesekus model was used to characterize the rheological behaviors of the fluids. The critical draw ratio at the onset of draw resonance was found to depend on the elongational and shear viscosities of the fluids. Extensional-thickening has a stabilizing effect, whereas shear-thinning and extensional-thinning have destabilizing effects. The critical draw ratios for bilayer films of various thickness fractions are bounded by those for single layer films of the two fluids. When the two fluids have a comparable elongational viscosity, the critical draw ratio at a given Deborah number varies linearly with thickness fraction. When one fluid has a much larger elongational viscosity, it dominates the flow and the critical draw ratios at most thickness fractions remain close to its critical draw ratio as a single layer film. When the dominating fluid exhibits extensional-thickening, a film with a certain thickness fraction has more than one critical draw ratio at a given Deborah number and may not exhibit draw resonance within some range of the Deborah number.     

Stability of a fluid-saturated porous medium contained in a vertical cylinder heated from below by forced convection

A linear stability analysis determining the critical Rayleigh number R _c for onset of convection in a bounded vertical cylinder containing a fluid-saturated porous medium is performed for insulated sidewalls, isothermal top surface, and bottom surface heated by forced convection. This Newtonian heating of the bottom surface involves a Biot number Bi that allows consideration of the continuum of boundary conditions ranging from constant heat flux, with global minimum R _min=27.096 found as Bi→0, to isothermal, with global minimum R _min=4π² found as Bi→ ∞. In both cases and for most cylinder aspect ratios, incipient convection sets in as an asymmetric mode, though islands of aspect ratio exist where the onset mode is symmetric. Sample three-dimensional renderings of disturbance temperature distributions showing preferred modes at onset of convection for fixed Bi are provided and an analytical fit to R _min as a function of Bi is given.     

Stability of triple diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid-saturated porous layer

The triple diffusive convection in an Oldroyd-B fluid-saturated porous layer is investigated by performing linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses. The condition for the onset of stationary and oscillatory is derived analytically. Contrary to the observed phenomenon in Newtonian fluids, the presence of viscoelasticity of the fluid is to degenerate the quasiperiodic bifurcation from the steady quiescent state. Under certain conditions, it is found that disconnected closed convex oscillatory neutral curves occur, indicating the requirement of three critical values of the thermal Darcy-Rayleigh number to identify the linear instability criteria instead of the usual single value, which is a novel result enunciated from the present study for an Oldroyd-B fluid saturating a porous medium. The similarities and differences of linear instability characteristics of Oldroyd-B, Maxwell, and Newtonian fluids are also highlighted. The stability of oscillatory finite amplitude convection is discussed by deriving a cubic Landau equation, and the convective heat and mass transfer are analyzed for different values of physical parameters.     

Natural convection in inclined two dimensional rectangular cavities

Steady two-dimensional natural convection in fluid filled cavities is numerically investigated. The channel is heated from below and cooled from the top with insulated side walls and the inclination angle is varied. The field equations for a Newtonian Boussinesq fluid are solved numerically for three cavity height based Rayleigh numbers, Ra = 10⁴, 10⁵ and 10⁶, and several aspect ratios. The calculations are in excellent agreement with previously published benchmark results. The effect of the inclination of the cavity to the horizontal with the angle varying from 0° to 180° and the effect of the startup conditions on the flow pattern, temperature distribution and the heat transfer rates have been investigated. Flow admits different configurations at different angles as the angle of inclination is increased depending on the initial conditions. Regardless of the initial conditions Nusselt number Nu exhibits discontinuities triggered by gradual transition from multiple cell to a single cell configuration. The critical angle of inclination at which the discontinuity occurs is strongly influenced by the assumed startup field. The hysteresis effect previously reported is not always present when the calculations are reversed from 90° to 0°. A comprehensive study of the flow structure, the Nu variation with varying angle of inclination, the effect of the initial conditions and the hysteresis effect are presented.     

Effects of shear-thinning/thickening nature on the stability of Couette-like flow with uniform crossflow

The linear stability of wall-injected pressure- driven Couette-like flow in power-law fluids is studied. Previous study on this kind of flow for Newtonian fluids by Nicoud and Angilella [Phys. Rev. E 56, 3000 （1997）] was extended to power-law fluids to understand the effects of shear-thinning/thickening nature on the flow stability. A related expression between the critical crossflow Reynolds number for Newtonian fluids and that for power-law fluids is obtained as the streamwise Reynolds number is large enough based on numerical computations, and verified theoretically in the case of a limiting condition with the power-law index.