Electrohydrodynamic instability of two superposed Walters B´ viscoelastic fluids in relative motion through porous medium

Summary  The electrohydrodynamic Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the interface between two uniform superposed viscoelastic (B′ model) dielectric fluids streaming through a porous medium is investigated. The considered system is influenced by applied electric fields acting normally to the interface between the two media, at which there are no surface charges present. In the absence of surface tension, perturbations transverse to the direction of streaming are found to be unaffected by either streaming and applied electric fields for the potentially unstable configuration, or streaming only for the potentially stable configuration, as long as perturbations in the direction of streaming are ignored. For perturbations in all other directions, there exists instability for a certain wavenumber range. The instability of this system can be enhanced (increased) by normal electric fields. In the presence of surface tension, it is found also that the normal electric fields have destabilizing effects, and that the surface tension is able to suppress the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability for small wavelength perturbations, and the medium porosity reduces the stability range given in terms of the velocities difference and the electric fields effect. Finally, it is shown that the presence of surface tension enhances the stabilizing effect played by the fluid velocities, and that the kinematic viscoelasticity has a stabilizing as well as a destabilizing effect on the considered system under certain conditions. Graphics have been plotted by giving numerical values to the parameters, to depict the stability characteristics. Received 27 March 2000; accepted for publication 3 May 2001     

The electrohydrodynamics of superimposed fluids subjected to a nonuniform transverse electric field

This study aims to investigate electrohydrodynamics of two superimposed fluids that are confined between a pair of two-dimensional flat plates and are exposed to a sinusoidal electric field in zero gravity. The goal is to identify the parameters that affect the flow structure and interface deformation using a simple closed form solution. The governing electrohydrodynamic equations are solved analytically for Newtonian and immiscible fluids in the framework of leaky-dielectric theory and in the limit of small electric field and fluid inertia. A detailed analysis of the electric and flow fields is presented and it is shown that the electric field induces sinusoidal electrical stresses at the interface, which lead to periodic convection cells. The parameters affecting the sense of flow circulation and strength are investigated and it is shown that the former depends on the relative magnitude of the electric permittivity and conductivity ratios while the latter is controlled by the relative thicknesses of the fluid layers and the ratio of the electric conductivities and viscosities of the fluids. The maximum flow strength is achieved at a relative thickness that is set by the competition between the electric and hydrodynamic effects. For small deformation, the distortion of the interface is examined using a normal stress balance at the interface, and it is shown that the degree of interface deformation scales with the square of the amplitude of the electric potential nonuniformity, while its wavenumber is twice that of the imposed potential nonuniformity. Furthermore, a zero-deformation curve is found, which delineates the region in the permittivity-conductivity space according to the sense of interface deformation. The results show that for certain ranges of fluid layer thicknesses and permittivity ratios, the interface will remain flat, despite the action of the nonuiform field.     

State space approach to unsteady magnetohydrodynamics natural convection heat and mass transfer through a porous medium saturated with a viscoelastic fluid

A technique of the state space approach and the inversion of the Laplace transform method are applied to dimensionless equations of an unsteady one-dimensional boundary-layer flow due to heat and mass transfer through a porous medium saturated with a viscoelastic fluid bounded by an infinite vertical plate in the presence of a uniform magnetic field is described. Complete analytical solutions for the temperature, concentration, velocity, and induced magnetic and electric fields are presented. The inversion of the Laplace transforms is carried out by using a numerical approach. The proposed method is used to solve two problems: boundary-layer flow in a viscoelastic fluid near a vertical wall subjected to the initial conditions of a stepwise temperature and concentration and viscoelastic fluid flow between two vertical walls. The solutions are found to be dependent on the governing parameters including the Prandtl number, the Schmidt number, the Grashof number, reaction rate coefficient, viscoelastic parameter, and permeability of the porous medium. Effects of these major parameters on the transport behavior are investigated methodically, and typical results are illustrated to reveal the tendency of the solutions. Representative results are presented for the velocity, temperature, concentration, and induced magnetic and electric field distributions, as well as the local skin-friction coefficient and the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers.     

Velocity-profile deformation in EHD flow in a two-dimensional channel

The study of unipolar-charged fluids in the presence of external and induced electric fields has recently taken on great importance. The characteristics of one-dimensional EGD flows [1, 2] and developed laminar flows of a viscous fluid [3] have been clarified in several studies made in this field. However, the study of three-dimensional flows of such media is actually just beginning. Here, along with the analysis of three-dimensional boundary layers and jets [4], there is considerable interest in the study of spatial (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) EHD flows of an inviscid fluid, since in many engineering devices the zone of interaction of the flow with the electric fields does not exceed a few channel diameters, which makes it possible to neglect viscous effects.In this paper we examine some aspects of two-dimensional EHD flows of a viscous incompressible medium for infinitely large electric Reynolds numbers. The perturbations of the hydrodynamic parameters of the flow downstream from the zone of action of the electrostatic forces are determined. It is shown that in many cases the flow parameters outside this zone may be determined without solving the complete system of EHD partial differential equations.     

Flow of a Weakly Conducting Fluid in a Channel Filled with a Porous Medium

We investigate the fully developed flow in a fluid-saturated porous medium channel with an electrically conducting fluid under the action of a parallel Lorentz force. The Lorentz force varies exponentially in the vertical direction due to low fluid electrical conductivity and the special arrangement of the magnetic and electric fields at the lower plate. Exact analytical solutions are derived for fluid velocity and the results are presented in figures. All these flows are new and are presented for the first time in the literature.     

General coupled solution of anisotropic piezoelectric materials with an elliptic inclusion

In this investigation, the Stroh formalism is used to develop a general solution for an infinite, anisotropic piezoelectric medium with an elliptic inclusion. The coupled elastic and electric fields both inside the inclusion and on the interface of the inclusion and matrix are given. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Exact and approximate formulations of problems for unsteady flows of conducting fluids in MHD channels

The exact formulation of problems for the unsteady flows of viscous incompressible conducting fluids in MHD channels with arbitrary wall conductivity envisions the joint solution of the equations for the fluid and for the surrounding medium, connected by the conditions at the interface, where the electric and magnetic fields must be continuous [1, 2]. If the side walls of the channel are made from highly conductive material and are connected with the external circuit, then these equations in the general case must be supplemented by the system of equations for the external circuit, written in accordance with Kirchhoff's second law.The solution of such problems in the exact formulation presents extreme difficulties. Moreover, in many particular cases which are of practical interest the problem formulation may be simplified, and solutions may be constructed in closed form.In the following we consider the possibilities of such simplification in studying unsteady flows of a fluid of high conductivity in planar MHD channels with an external electrical circuit.     

Limited permeable crack moving along the interface of a piezoelectric bi-material

A plane problem for a crack moving with a subsonic speed along the interface of two piezoelectric semi-infinite spaces is considered. The crack is assumed to be free from mechanical loading. The limited permeable electric condition with an account of electric traction is adopted at its faces. A uniformly distributed mixed mode mechanical loading and an electric flux are prescribed at infinity. The problem is reduced to the Riemann–Hilbert problem by means of introducing a moving coordinate system and assuming that the electric flux is uniformly distributed along the crack region. An exact solution of this problem is proposed. It permits to find in closed form all necessary electromechanical characteristics at the interface and to formulate the equation for the determination of the electric flux. Analysis of this equation confirms the correctness of the assumption concerning the uniform distribution of the electric flux in the crack region. The values of the electric flux are determined by solving the obtained equation. Thereafter, the stress and electric intensity factors as well as their asymptotic fields at the crack tip are also found. The particular case of a crack moving in a homogeneous piezoelectric material is considered. The values of the electric flux and the fracture parameters are found exactly in a simple form for this case. Also, a numerical analysis is performed for a crack propagating with a subsonic speed between PZT4 and PZT5 materials and for a crack moving in PZT4 material. The electric flux in the crack region, stress and electric intensity factors, crack opening and the energy release rate (ERR) are found as functions of the crack speed, loading and electric permeability of the crack medium. The influence of the electric traction on the crack faces upon the mentioned parameters is demonstrated.     

On the theory of seepage waves of pressure in a fracture in a porous permeable medium

Seepage pressure waves in fractures in a porous permeable medium are studied. The effects of the reservoir and fracture porosity and permeability, the fracture width, and the rheological properties of the saturating fluid on the perturbation dynamics in the fracture are analyzed. It is shown that in porous permeable reservoirs, fractures are wave channels through which low-frequency fluctuations of borehole pressure propagate. Accurate solutions are obtained which describe the evolution of pressure fields in a fracture with an instantaneous change in the borehole pressure by a constant value. Based on these solutions, dependences of the fluid flow rate on time and interface pressure are determined.     

Degeneration of an isotropic random field of electric charge pulsations in electrodynamics

The conditions under which an isotropic field of electric pulsations can exist in an electrically charged medium are indicated, with allowance in Ohm's law for the convection and diffusion of charged particles and their drift in the electric field. Mean parameter distributions are found for isotropic random fields and equations are obtained for correlation moments containing electric pulsations. The equations are analyzed with respect to the two-point correlations between the pulsations in the electric charge densities (the limit of single-point correlations is reached, invariant relations are obtained, and particular solutions are constructed). The degeneration laws of the isotropic fields of the electric parameters as a result of diffusion and drift. processes are found. Field degeneration due only to drift particle motion is studied under arbitrary initial conditions. Such field degeneration if there is no diffusion mechanism is a fundamental feature of turbulent electro-hydrodynamic motions.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 38–47, January–February, 1987.The authors thank V. R. Kuznetsov for his useful discussion of the paper.     

Features of deformation of poroelastic media with low structural strength

Many natural and technological processes are associated with deformation and fracture of saturated or being saturated poroelastic media. Among such processes one can mention fluid soaking through a dam, fluid inflow to the cracks of hydraulic fracture, polishing using porous materials and special fluids, flow in catalytic pellets. All these processes are accompanied by deformation and fracture of a matrix with fluid flow. The effects at the interface porous body–fluid are essential for the processes.The specific features of deformation of poroelastic media with low structural strength are considered in this paper. The compressibility of the matrix skeleton is larger as compared to the compressibility of the saturating fluid in such media.It is shown that the oozing of the fluid at the surface of the poroelastic medium occurs in the consolidated flow regime under the action of `fluid piston' like loads if the structural strength of the medium is low. This result is obtained for both plane (deformation of a layer or halfinfinite medium) and centrally symmetric (deformation of a sphere) problems.     

A piezoelectric medium containing a cylindrical inhomogeneity: Role of electric capacitors and mechanical imperfections

Often, during fabrication processes of fiber–matrix composites, the pertinent interface may be made imperfectly bonded either deliberately or undesirably. The effect of electric capacitors and mechanical imperfections on the electro-mechanical fields associated with an anisotropic piezoelectric matrix containing a cylindrical inhomogeneity made of a different anisotropic piezoelectric material is of interest. In fact the interface imperfection condition presented in this paper is quite general, in the sense that any combination of mechanical and electrical imperfections may exist. The interface electrical imperfection is mimicked by the electric capacitors. The capacity of the capacitors is a measure of the electrical imperfection. The notion of complete electric barrier realizes when the capacity is equal to zero. For finite values of capacity, different electrical imperfections are modeled. When the capacity is infinitely large, perfect electrical interface reveals.     

Determination of particle charge and size from the propagation of ultrasound in suspensions

The propagation of small perturbations in raulticomponent disperse media consisting of an uncharged dispersion fluid, positive and negative ions and charged particles or droplets of another fluid is investigated. When weak waves pass through emulsions and suspensions, because of the difference in the velocities of the ions and charged particles a non-uniform distribution of electric potential develops in the medium [1–3]. Expressions relating the amplitude of the electric potential and the amplitude of the fluid velocity in the wave, the particle charge and the parameters characterizing the medium are derived. Relations are obtained for the phase shift between the values of the electric potential and the fluid velocity. It is proposed to use the expressions obtained, which describe the propagation of ultrasound, for the experimental determination of the particle charge and other parameters of the disperse medium, in particular, the particle size.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 122–128, January–February, 1988.     

A new Finite Element Method for magneto-dynamical problems: two-dimensional results

A mixed Lagrange finite element technique is used to solve the Maxwell equations in the magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) limit in an hybrid domain composed of vacuum and conducting regions. The originality of the approach is that no artificial boundary condition is enforced at the interface between the conducting and the insulating regions and the non-conducting medium is not approximated by a weakly conducting medium as is frequently done in the literature. As a first evaluation of the performance of the method, we study two-dimensional (2D) configurations, where the flow streamlines of the conducting fluid are planar, i.e., invariant in one direction, and either the magnetic field (“magnetic scalar” case) or the electric field (“electric scalar” case) is parallel to the invariant direction. Induction heating, eddy current generation, and magnetic field stretching are investigated showing the usefulness of finite element methods to solve magneto-dynamical problems with complex insulating boundaries.     

Buoyancy-driven motion of a two-dimensional bubble or drop through a viscous liquid in the presence of a vertical electric field

The effect of an electric field on the buoyancy-driven motion of a two-dimensional gas bubble rising through a quiescent liquid is studied computationally. The dynamics of the bubble is simulated numerically by tracking the gas–liquid interface when an electrostatic field is generated in the vertical gap of the rectangular enclosure. The two phases of the system are assumed to be perfect dielectrics with constant but different permittivities, and in the absence of impressed charges, there is no free charge in the fluid bulk regions or at the interface. Electric stresses are supported at the bubble interface but absent in the bulk and one of the objectives of our computations is to quantify the effect of these Maxwell stresses on the overall bubble dynamics. The numerical algorithm to solve the free-boundary problem relies on the level-set technique coupled with a finite-volume discretization of the Navier–Stokes equations. The sharp interface is numerically approximated by a finite-thickness transition zone over which the material properties vary smoothly, and surface tension and electric field effects are accounted for by employing a continuous surface force approach. A multi-grid solver is applied to the Poisson equation describing the pressure field and the Laplace equation governing the electric field potential. Computational results are presented that address the combined effects of viscosity, surface tension, and electric fields on the dynamics of the bubble motion as a function of the Reynolds number, gravitational Bond number, electric Bond number, density ratio, and viscosity ratio. It is established through extensive computations that the presence of the electric field can have an important effect on the dynamics. We present results that show a substantial increase in the bubble’s rise velocity in the electrified system as compared with the corresponding non-electrified one. In addition, for the electrified system, the bubble shape deformations and oscillations are smaller, and there is a reduction in the propensity of the bubble to break up through increasingly larger oscillations.     

Effects of chemical reaction on mixed convection flow of a polar fluid through a porous medium in the presence of internal heat generation

This paper reports a detailed numerical investigation on mixed convection flow of a polar fluid through a porous medium due to the combined effects of thermal and mass diffusion. The energy equation accounts for heat generation or absorption, while the nth order homogeneous chemical reaction between the fluid and the diffusing species is included in the mass diffusion equation. The governing equations of the linear momentum, angular momentum, energy and concentration are obtained in a non-similar form by introducing a suitable group of transformations. The final set of non-similar coupled non-linear partial differential equations is solved using an implicit finite-difference scheme in combination with quasi-linearization technique. The effects of various parameters on the velocity, angular velocity, temperature and concentration fields are investigated. Numerical results for the skin friction coefficient, wall stress of angular velocity, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are also presented.     

Radiation effects on combined convection over a vertical flat plate embedded in a porous medium of variable porosity

The present paper is concerned with the study of radiation effects on the combined (forced-free) convection flow of an optically dense viscous incompressible fluid over a vertical surface embedded in a fluid saturated porous medium of variable porosity with heat generation or absorption. The effects of radiation heat transfer from a porous wall on convection flow are very important in high temperature processes. The inclusion of radiation effects in the energy equation leads to a highly non-linear partial differential equations which are transformed to a system of ordinary differential equations using non-similarity transformation. These equations are then solved numerically using implicit finite-difference method subject to appropriate boundary and matching conditions. A parametric study of the physical parameters such as the particle diameter-based Reynolds number, the flow based Reynolds number, the Grashof number, the heat generation or absorption co-efficient and radiation parameter is conducted on temperature distribution. The effects of radiation and other physical parameters on the local skin friction and on local Nusselt number are shown graphically. It is interesting to observe that the momentum and thermal boundary layer thickness increases with the radiation and decrease with increase in the Prandtl number.     

Instability of two streaming conducting and dielectric bounded fluids in porous medium under time-varying electric field

In this paper, we consider the instability of the interface between two superposed streaming conducting and dielectric fluids of finite depths through porous medium in a vertical electric field varying periodically with time. A damped Mathieu equation with complex coefficients is obtained. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain an approximate solution of this equation, and then to analyze the stability criteria of the system. We distinguish between the non-resonance case, and the resonance case, respectively. It is found, in the first case, that both the porosity of porous medium, and the kinematic viscosities have stabilizing effects, and the medium permeability has a destabilizing effect on the system. While in the second case, it is found that each of the frequency of the electric field, and the fluid velocities, as well as the medium permeability, has a stabilizing effect, and decreases the value of the resonance point, while each of the porosity of the porous medium, and the kinematic viscosities has a destabilizing effect, and increases the value of the resonance point. In the absence of both streaming velocities and porous medium, we obtain the canonical form of the Mathieu equation. It is found that the fluid depth and the surface tension have a destabilizing effect on the system. This instability sets in for any value of the fluid depth, and by increasing the depth, the instability holds for higher values of the electric potential; while the surface tension has no effect on the instability region for small wavenumber values. Finally, the case of a steady electric field in the presence of a porous medium is also investigated, and the stability conditions show that each of the fluid depths and the porosity of the porous medium ɛ has a destabilizing effect, while the fluid velocities have stabilizing effect. The stability conditions for two limiting cases of interest, the case of purely fluids), and the case of absence of streaming, are also obtained and discussed in detail.     

Flow of a Weakly Conducting Fluid in a Channel Filled with a Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer Porous Medium

We investigate in this article, the fully developed flow in a fluid-saturated channel filled with a Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer porous medium, which is conducted with an electrically varying parallel Lorentz force. The Lorentz force varies exponentially in the vertical direction due to low fluid electrical conductivity and the special arrangement of the magnetic and electric fields at the lower plate. With the homotopy analysis method (HAM), a particularly effective technique in solving nonlinear problems, analytical approximation series solutions with high accuracy are derived for fluid velocity and the results are illustrated in form of figures. All these flows are new and are presented for the first time in the literature.     

Seismoelectric Fluid/Porous-Medium Interface Response Model and Measurements

Coupled seismic and electromagnetic (EM) wave effects in fluid-saturated porous media are measured since decades. However, direct comparisons between theoretical seismoelectric wavefields and measurements are scarce. A seismoelectric full-waveform numerical model is developed, which predicts both the fluid pressure and the electric wavefields in a fluid in which a porous disc is embedded. An experimental setup, in which pressure and electric signals in the fluid are simultaneously measured, is presented. The setup allows the detection of the EM field that is generated when an acoustic wave crosses the interface between the fluid and the thin porous disc, without interference of electrical fields that are present within seismic body waves. The predicted pressure wavefield agrees well with the measurements in terms of acoustic wave travel times, waveforms, and amplitudes. The electric wavefield predictions agree with the recordings in terms of travel times, waveforms, and spatial amplitude decay. A discrepancy in amplitude of the converted EM signal is observed. Theoretical amplitudes that are smaller than the measurements were also reported in previous literature. These results seem to validate seismoelectric theory.