Simulation of planar converging flow of a Leonov viscoelastic fluid

An efficient finite element algorithm is presented to simulate the planar converging flow for the viscoelastic fluid of the Leonov model. The governing equation set, composed of the continuity, momentum and constitutive equations for the Leonov fluid flow, is conveniently decoupled and a two-stage cyclic iteration technique is employed to solve the velocity and elastic strain fields separately. Artificial viscosity terms are imposed on the momentum equations to relax the elastic force and data smoothing is performed on the iterative calculations for velocities to further stabilize the numerical computations. The calculated stresses agree qualitatively with the experimental measurements and other numerically simulated results available in the literature. Computations were successful to moderately high values of Deborah number of about 27·5.     

A comparison of stabilisation approaches for finite-volume simulation of viscoelastic fluid flow

In this work we compare different stabilisation approaches currently used in the simulation of viscoelastic fluid flow. These approaches are: the both-sides diffusion, the positive definiteness preserving scheme, the log-conformation tensor representation and the symmetry factorisation of the conformation tensor. The evaluation of these approaches is done regarding their implementation complexity, stability, accuracy, efficiency and applicability to complex problems. Their performances are examined for an Oldroyd-B fluid in the test cases of lid-driven cavity, flow past a cylinder and 4:1 contraction flow. We summarise the situations in which the different approaches can be recommended.     

Finite element technique to solve the elastic strain for Leonov fluid flow

The finite element method is used to find the elastic strain (and thus the stress) for given velocity fields of the Leonov model fluid. With a simple linearization technique and the Galerkin formulation, the quasi-linear coupled first-order hyperbolic differential equations together with a non-linear equality constraint are solved over the entire domain based on a weighted residual scheme. The proposed numerical scheme has yielded efficient and accurate convective integrations for both the planar channel and the diverging radial flows for the Leonov model fluid. Only the strain in the inflow plane is required to be prescribed as the boundary conditions. In application, it can be conveniently incorporated in an existing finite element algorithm to simulate the Leonov viscoelastic fluid flow with more complex geometry in which the velocity field is not known a priori and an iterative procedure is needed.     

Analysing flow and heat transfer of a viscoelastic fluid over a semi-infinite horizontal moving flat plate

This paper presents a numerical study of the flow and heat transfer of an incompressible homogeneous second grade type fluid above a flat plate moving with constant velocity U. Such a viscoelastic fluid is at rest and the motion is created by the sheet. The effects of the non-Newtonian nature of the fluid are governed by the local Deborah number K (the ratio between the relaxation time of the fluid and the characteristic time of the flow). When , a new analytical solution for this flow is presented and the effects of fluid's elasticity on flow characteristics, dimensionless stream function and its derivatives are analysed in a wide domain of K. A novel result of the analysis is that a change in the flow solution's behaviour occurs when the dimensionless stream function at the edge of the boundary layer, f_∞, equals 1.0. It is found that velocity at a point decreases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid and, as expected, the amount of fluid entrained diminishes when the effects of fluid's elasticity are augmented. In our heat transfer analyses we assume that the surface temperature has a power-law variation. Two cases are studied, namely, (i) the sheet with prescribed surface temperature (PST case) and (ii) the sheet with prescribed heat flux (PHF case). Local similarity heat-transfer solutions are given for PST case when s=2 (the wall temperature parameter) whereas when a similarity solution takes place in the case of prescribed wall heat flux. The numerical results obtained are fairly in good agreement with the aforementioned analytical ones.     

Local similarity solution for the flow of a “second-grade” viscoelastic fluid above a moving plate

The boundary layer flow of a viscoelastic fluid of the second-grade type over a rigid continuous plate moving through an otherwise quiescent fluid with constant velocity U is studied. Assuming the flow to be laminar and two-dimensional, local similarity solution is found with fluid's elasticity and plate's withdrawal speed as the main variables. Results are presented for velocity profiles, boundary layer thickness, wall skin friction coefficient and fluid entrainment in terms of the local Deborah number. A marked formation of boundary layer is predicted, even at low Reynolds numbers, provided the Deborah number is sufficiently large. The boundary layer thickness and the wall skin friction coefficient are found to scale with fluid's elasticity—both decreasing the higher the fluid's elasticity. The amount of fluid entrained is also predicted to decrease whenever a fluid exhibits elastic behavior.     

Two-dimensional planar flow of a viscoelastic plastic medium

The present study is concerned with finite element simulation of the planar entry flow of a viscoelastic plastic medium exhibiting yield stress. The numerical scheme is based on the Galerkin formulation. Flow experiments are carried out on a carbon black filled rubber compound. Steady-state pressure drops are measured on two sets of contraction or expansion dies having different lengths and a constant contraction or expansion ratio of 4:1 with entrance angles of 90, 45 and 15 degrees. The predicted and measured pressure drops are compared. The predicted results indicate that expansion flow has always a higher pressure drop than contraction flow. This prediction is in agreement with experimental data only at low flow rates, but not at high flow rates. The latter disagreement is possibly an indication that the assumption of fully-developed flow in the upstream and downstream regions is not realistic at high flow rates, even for the large length-to-thickness ratio channels employed. The evolution of the velocity, shear stress, and normal stress fields in the contraction or expansion flow and the location of pseudo-yield surfaces are also calculated.     

An adaptive remeshing strategy for viscoelastic fluid flow simulations

In the last few years, we have developed a fairly general adaptive finite element solution procedure which can be applied to a large variety of problems. In this paper, this strategy is briefly recalled and applied to the solution of two-dimensional viscoelastic fluid flow problems. A log-conformation formulation recently introduced by Fattal and Kupferman [R. Fattal, R. Kupferman, Time-dependent simulation of viscoelastic flows at high Weissenberg number using the log-conformation representation, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 126 (2005) 23-37] was implemented in order to improve the convergence properties of the numerical scheme. We confirm some results obtained in Hulsen, Fattal and Kupferman [M. Hulsen, R. Fattal, R. Kupferman, Flow of viscoelastic fluids past a cylinder at high Weissenberg number: stabilized simulations using matrix logarithm, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 127 (2005) 27-39] and in some instances, we show that mesh adaptation allows to almost automatically reproduce accurate results obtained on very fine structured meshes.     

Sakiadis flow of an upper-convected Maxwell fluid

The flow of an upper-convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid is studied theoretically above a rigid plate moving steadily in an otherwise quiescent fluid. It is assumed that the Reynolds number of the flow is high enough for boundary layer approximation to be valid. Assuming a laminar, two-dimensional flow above the plate, the concept of stream function coupled with the concept of similarity solution is utilized to reduce the governing equations into a single third-order ODE. It is concluded that the fluid's elasticity destroys similarity between velocity profiles; thus an attempt was made to find local similarity solutions. Three different methods will be used to solve the governing equation: (i) the perturbation method, (ii) the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method, and (iii) the finite-difference method. The velocity profiles obtained using the latter two methods are shown to be virtually the same at corresponding Deborah number. The velocity profiles obtained using perturbation method, in addition to being different from those of the other two methods, are dubious in that they imply some degree of reverse flow. The wall skin friction coefficient is predicted to decrease with an increase in the Deborah number for Sakiadis flow of a UCM fluid. This prediction is in direct contradiction with that reported in the literature for a second-grade fluid.     

Comparison of a quasi-Newtonian fluid with a viscoelastic fluid in planar contraction flow

The flow of a 5.0 wt.% solution of polyisobutylene in tetradecane through a planar 4 : 1 contraction exhibiting a shear thinning viscosity is simulated using the flow-type sensitive quasi-Newtonian fluid model. The shear viscosity is fitted by the Giesekus model, which, with the chosen parameters, leads to an extension thickening elongational viscosity. The stress and velocity fields of the numerical simulations are compared with the experimental results of Quinzani et al. [J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 52 (1994) 1–36] and the numerical results of the viscoelastic simulation using the Giesekus model of Azaiez et al. [J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 62 (1996) 253–277]. It can be shown that the quasi-Newtonian fluid qualitatively predicts the essential features of the flow in the vicinity of the contraction.     

Stability of viscoelastic shear flows in the limit of high Weissenberg and Reynolds numbers

We consider a limit of the upper convected Maxwell model where both the Weissenberg and Reynolds numbers are large. The limiting equations have a status analogous to that of the Euler equations for the high Reynolds number limit. These equations admit parallel shear flows with an arbitrary profile of velocity and normal stress. We consider the stability of these flows. An extension of Howard’s semicircle theorem can be used to show that the flow is stabilized if elastic effects are sufficiently strong. We also show how to analyze the long wave limit in a fashion similar to the inviscid case.     

Development of secondary flows in viscoelastic curved ducts and the influence of outlet region

This paper presents numerical simulations of Newtonian and viscoelastic flows through a 180° curved duct of square cross section with a long straight outlet region. A particular attention is paid to the development of the flow in the output rectangular region after the curved part. The viscoelastic fluid is modeled using the constitutive equation proposed by Phan–Thien–Tanner (PTT). The numerical results, obtained with a finite-volume method, are shown for three different Dean numbers (125,137,150)$(125,137,150)$ and for three Deborah numbers (0.1,0.2,0.3)$(0.1,0.2,0.3)$. The necessary outlet length to impose boundary conditions is presented and discussed for these cases. Streamlines and vortex formation are shown to illustrate and analyze the evolution of the secondary flow in this region.     

Simulation of viscoelastic stagnation flow

A finite element simulation for the steady flow in a planar stagnation die was used to compute the velocity, pressure and stress fields. It is predicted that a region surrounds the stagnation point where the flow approximates a planar extension. This region is circular for the Newtonian liquid and becomes an ellipse for the Maxwell fluid. An isotropic point in the stress field is found for the Newtonian case as well as for the Maxwell fluid. Lubrication of the die wall, modeled as a finite slip, increases the size of extensional flow region by as much as 100%, while causing a migration of the isotropic stress point towards the die wall.A slight increase in the apparent planar extensional viscosity occurs before the numerical scheme fails at deformation rates well below the extensional singularity in the Maxwell model. Slip at the walls does not significantly alter the convergence behavior, which appears to be limited by effects in the entry region. In this region, at a Weissenberg number of 1.16, spatial oscillations in the pressure, deformation rate and stress develop. The stress normal to the main flow direction in the entry region is compressive for all values of the slip coefficient. a Length of hyperbolic region in the stagnation die - A total area for flow in thexy-plane - C die constant;XY = C/h ² at the die wall - da differential area element - ds differential contour length along the boundary - ;A boundary of the flow - h half-width at die entry - I unit tensor - l _i inlet length in the stagnation die - l _o outlet length in the stagnation die - n unit outward normal to the boundary or to a streamline - n _i unit outward normal to a finite element at the boundary - P pressure; normalized byV/h - P _i nodal value of pressure in an element - Q volumetric flow rate through the die - T total stress tensor; normalized byV/h - t unit tangent to the boundary or to a streamline - t _i unit tangent to a finite element at the boundary - V maximum speed at the centerline of inlet or outlet - v velocity vector with components (u, ); normalized byV - v _i nodal velocities in a finite element - v _s velocity of the solid surface; zero in this study - Ws Weissenberg number;V/h - W width of the die normal to thexy-plane - X position vector with components (X, Y) - slip coefficient; normalized byh/ - rate of deformation tensor; normalized byV/h - elongation rate; dimensionless - relaxation time of main fluid - shear viscosity of main fluid - _ex extensional viscosity (_xx — _yy) - finite element shape function for velocity - finite element shape function for pressure and stress - extra stress; normalized byV/h - _i nodal value of extra stress in an element - partial differentiation - gradient operator     

Squeezing of an Oldroyd-B fluid from a tube: Limiting Weissenberg number

It is shown that the squeezing flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid from a tube with a prescribed time-dependent radius has an exact separable solution. In the special case where the tube radius varies exponentially with time a similarity solution exists. However, in this case there is a critical Weissenberg number above which a component of the stress tensor increases without bound in time.     

Stagnation-point flow of a viscoelastic fluid towards a stretching surface

An analysis is made of the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an incompressible viscoelastic fluid over a flat deformable surface when the surface is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation-point. It is shown that for a viscoelastic fluid of short memory (obeying Walters’ B′ model), a boundary layer is formed when the stretching velocity of the surface is less than the inviscid free-stream velocity and velocity at a point increases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid. On the other hand, an inverted boundary layer is formed when the surface stretching velocity exceeds the velocity of the free stream and the velocity decreases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid. A novel result of the analysis is that the flow near the stretching surface is that corresponding to an inviscid stagnation-point flow when the surface stretching velocity is equal to the velocity of the free stream. Temperature distribution in the boundary layer is found when the surface is held at constant temperature and surface heat flux is determined. It is found that temperature at a point decreases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid.     

Two dimensional flow quantitative visualization by the hybrid method of flow birefringence and boundary integration

Flow birefringent method and its data processing was reviewed and a new hybrid method of flow birefringence and boundary integration was introduced. The basic equations and boundary conditions suitable to the hybrid method were derived, and a comparison of the hybrid and other classical methods was given. Finally as an example, the flow in a step converging tube was analyzed by the given method. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)     

Molecular models and flow calculations: II. Simulation of steady planar flow

A multibead-rod model is used to replace the constitutive equation of continuum mechanics in solving flow problems of steady-state planar flows of rigid-rodlike molecular suspensions. The governing equations then constitute a set of differential equations of the elliptic type, which is more amenable to numerical treatment than those of the mixed type. The conservation equations of the flow fields are solved by the boundary element method with linear boundary elements in physical space and the diffusion equation of the distribution function is solved separately by the Galerkin method in phase space. The solution to the flow problem is obtained when the convergence of the iteration procedure between the two spaces has been reached. Several numerical examples are shown and the interesting features of the present method are discussed in this paper. The project supported by the National Nature Science Fundation of China.     

Utilizing phase retard integration method of flow birefringence to analyse the flow with symmetric plane

The formulas which are suitable to birefringent medium with symmetric plane are derived by means of phase retard integration. We have adopted this concept to the axisymmetric problems and deduced some useful formulas for these cases. As a practical application, the strain rate analysis of flow in a diverging or a converging vessel is illustrated at the end of this paper. The project supported by National Natural Science foundation of China     

Dependence of flow behaviour on carbon black distribution in polyblend systems

The flow behaviour of four blend systems was determined at four shear rates and three processing temperatures using an extrusion rheometer. The blends were based on natural rubber/polybutadiene elastomers and were prepared using various mixing sequences with the carbon black being added in different ways.The degree of die swelling was found to depend on the blending technique, the processing temperature and the extrusion rate. A theoretical model was used to calculate the stored elastic energy, shear modulus and relaxation time. Melt fracture was observed when the carbon black was premixed in just one component of the blend.     

Study of high Deborah number flow of polyisobutylene in square die

A large capacity RAM extruder was designed which provides the opportunity to study high Deborah number (D) flows, with D < 1,000. A modified version of particle image velocimetry was developed to enable the measurement of the velocity field in dies of arbitrary cross section. During the measurement process, tracer particles were simultaneously illuminated by both a focused laser beam locally and a lamp globally. Only those particles that passed through the laser beam were taken into account. The beam was scanned to achieve full field measurements. This method of measurement allowed us to find the location of a particle in the direction of the optical axis of the lens, i.e. that which makes the particle image on the CCD detector of the video camera. A device employing this method was designed and used to measure velocity profiles. The results of these measurements in two cross sections of the square die, at three values of pressure, are presented. The velocity was defined as the ratio of displacement to the elapsed time during which this displacement occurred. Errors in measurements of the coordinates and the observation time of particles were estimated as ±20 μm and less than 0.1%, respectively. A large plateau in the axial velocity profile was found at relatively small Deborah numbers, e.g. D ≈ 28. In flows with higher Deborah numbers, e.g. D ≈ 766, an almost flat velocity profile was detected. Two components of velocity, one longitudinal and one transversal, were measured simultaneously. However, the transversal component appeared to be less than the error of measurements and less than 1% of the axial velocity. Received: 4 August 1998 Accepted: 5 April 1999     

Unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid with fractional Maxwell model in a channel

The unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid with the fractional derivative Maxwell model (FDMM) in a channel is studied in this note. The exact solutions are obtained for an arbitrary pressure gradient by means of the finite Fourier cosine transform and the Laplace transform. Two special cases of pressure gradient are discussed. Some results given by the classical models with integer-order are included in this note.