Forward roll coating flows of viscoelastic liquids

Roll coating is distinguished by the use of one or more gaps between rotating cylinders to meter and apply a liquid layer to a substrate. Except at low speed, the two-dimensional film splitting flow that occurs in forward roll coating is unstable; a three-dimensional steady flow sets in, resulting in more or less regular stripes in the machine direction. For Newtonian liquids, the stability of the two-dimensional flow is determined by the competition of capillary and viscous forces: the onset of meniscus nonuniformity is marked by a critical value of the capillary number. Although most of the liquids coated industrially are non-Newtonian polymeric solutions and dispersions, most of the theoretical analyses of film splitting flows relied on the Newtonian model. Non-Newtonian behavior can drastically change the nature of the flow near the free surface; when minute amounts of flexible polymer are present, the onset of the three-dimensional instability occurs at much lower speeds than in the Newtonian case.Forward roll coating flow is analyzed here with two differential constitutive models, the Oldroyd-B and the FENE-P equations. The results show that the elastic stresses change the flow near the film splitting meniscus by reducing and eventually eliminating the recirculation present at low capillary number. When the recirculation disappears, the difference of the tangential and normal stresses (i.e., the hoop stress) at the free surface becomes positive and grows dramatically with fluid elasticity, which explains how viscoelasticity destabilizes the flow in terms of the analysis of Graham [M.D. Graham, Interfacial hoop stress and instability of viscoelastic free surface flows, Phys. Fluids 15 (2003) 1702–1710].     

Helical flow of some non-Newtonian liquids

Rheologica Acta - The equations of Cross and Cassou describing two types of shear-thinning liquids are extended to flow in two dimensions. The resulting equations are then applied to helical flow...     

On pulsatile flow of non-Newtonian liquids

Rheologica Acta - We consider the behaviour of non-Newtonian liquids as they are made to flow through straight pipes of circular cross section under the action of a pressure -gradient which...     

On slip effect in free coating of non-Newtonian fluids

The failure of the current theories to predict the coating thickness of non-Newtonian fluids in free coating operations is shown to be a result of the effective slip at the moving rigid surface being coated. This slip phenomenon is a consequence of stress induced diffusion occurring in flow of structured liquids in non-homogeneous flow fields. Literature data have been analysed to substantiate the slip hypothesis proposed in this work. The experimentally observed coating thickness is shown to lie between an upper bound, which is estimated by a no-slip condition for homogeneous solution and a lower bound, which is estimated by using solvent properties. Some design considerations have been provided, which will serve as useful guidelines for estimating coating thickness in industrial practice.fa exponent in eq. (15) - b n/(4 –n)(n + 1) - Ca Capillary number - D diffusivity - De Deborah number - g acceleration due to gravity - G Goucher number - h thickness profile - h ₀ final coating thickness - K consistency index - L length available for diffusion - L _t tube length - n power-law index - P pressure drop - Q flow rate - R cylinder radius - R _t tube radius - t time available for diffusion - T ₀ dimensionless thickness without slip - T _s dimensionless thickness with slip - U _c theoretically calculated withdrawal velocity to match the film thickness - u _s slip velocity - U withdrawal velocity - U _w theoretically calculated withdrawal velocity based on solvent properties - U ^* effective withdrawal velocity - x distance in the direction of flow - y distance transverse to the flow direction - curvature coefficient - slip coefficient - curvature coefficient - rate of deformation tensor - u _s /U - relaxation time - density - surface tension - shear stress in tube flow - _w wall shear stress in tube flow - stress tensor - _w wall shear stress - T _s /T ₀ NCL-Communication No. 2818     

Developing laminar flows with visco-elastic and non-Newtonian liquids

Summary Developing laminar flows have been studied experimentally in straight pipes of circular cross-section. Velocity profiles have been measured and entry lengths determined for the transition from an initially flat profile to the equilibrium form: flow visualisation using fine tracer particles was the technique used. It has been found that non-Newtonian (pseudo-plastic) fluids have significantly longer development regions than those corresponding to dynamically similar Newtonian conditions. Viscoelastic liquids depart even more from the simple case. The experimental evidence seems to indicate that elastic effects influence the flow field at two differing time scales, not only where the process time is of the same order of magnitude as the natural (relaxation) time of the liquid but also in much slower processes.

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Zusammenfassung Die Entwicklung von laminaren Strömungen wurde experimentell in geraden Rohren mit Kreisquerschnitt untersucht. Die Geschwindigkeitsprofile wurden gemessen und die Eintrittslängen bestimmt, die für den Übergang von dem ursprünglich flachen Profil zur Gleichgewichtsform nötig sind. Die Strömung wurde mit Hilfe von feinen Spurenteilchen sichtbar gemacht. Es zeigte sich dabei, daß nicht-Newtonsche Flüssigkeiten ein deutlich größeres Übergangsgebiet haben als solche, die sich auf dynamisch ähnliche Newtonsche Bedingungen beziehen. Viskoelastische Flüssigkeiten weichen stärker von dem einfachen Fall ab.Das Experiment scheint zu zeigen, daß elastische Effekte das Strömungsfeld in zwei unterschiedlichen Zeitmaßstäben beeinflussen: nicht nur in dem Bereich, in dem die Prozeßzeit von derselben Größenordnung ist wie die Relaxationszeit der Flüssigkeit, sondern auch bei wesentlich langsameren Prozessen.

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High-speed roll coating with complex rheology fluids

The flow of high solids content suspensions and coating colors through the deformable gap of counter-rotating rolls at high speed was investigated. Measurements of nip pressure profiles in a laboratory film coater were conducted and flow visualization experiments downstream the nip were carried out. A high-speed video system allowed showing the formation, elongation and break up of filaments that yield the misting droplets. The role of rheology on misting was also investigated using shear and extensional data. Results show that misting, mainly generated by film splitting, is reduced when the extensional viscosity of the color is larger.     

Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids rotating adjacent to a stationary surface

The interaction of a rotating flow and a stationary surface is discussed for a second-order non-Newtonian liquid. Similarity solutions of the governing partial differential equations are obtained for the case of the outer flow in solid-body rotation. The results for the Newtonian case are compared with Bödewadt's series solution of this problem. The non-Newtonian solutions indicate that for certain values of the parameters characterizing the non-linear viscous response and normal stress effects a larger secondary flow is induced in the boundary layer than in the Newtonian case.Also at North Carolina State University Raleigh (N.C.), U.S.A.     

The influence of walls on the motion of a sphere in non-Newtonian liquids

The influence of the contained wall on the drag of a sphere moving through a non-Newtonian fluid is analysed in this work separately for the low Reynolds number and the high Reynolds number regions. In the former, we make use of the two-concentric-sphere model. It is predicted that the wall effect will decrease with the increase of the shear-thinning anomaly and this is in a reasonable agreement with the available experimental data and correlations. The wall effect in the high Reynolds number region is analysed in this work using the cell model (used to study the motion of an assemblage of solid spheres) and the predictions are in satisfactory agreement with the available empirical correlation for non-Newtonian fluids. Presented at the First Conference of European Rheologists, Graz (Austria), April 14–16, 1982.     

On the use of power equations to relate shear-rate to stress in non-Newtonian liquids

Summary It is shown that some quite simple assumptions about the nature of the flow of non-Newtonian liquids lead to the use of the well-known power relation between shear-rate and stress, hitherto regarded as entirely empirical. The treatment is applicable both to thinning and to thickening liquids provided there is no hysteresis.     

Separating forces in blade coating of viscous and viscoelastic liquids

Coating of viscous and viscoelastic liquids is examined both theoretically and experimentally. A single simple geometry, a blade over a rotating roll, is considered. A perturbation solution to the Navier-Stokes equations yields a lubrication theory with first order corrections for curvature and inertia. A numerical solutions by the Finite Element Method (FEM) is compared to the analytical solutions. For Newtonian fluids, agreement between these mathematical models, and data on blade loading, is quite good.The effect of a non-Newtonian viscosity is explored by adopting a purely viscous power law model. The zeroth-order (lubrication) equations are solved by the method of Steidler and Horowitz, and predictions for coating thickness and blade loading agree quite well with those obtained from a FEM solution of the full equations of motion for a power law fluid. Data on blade loading, obtained using a strongly elastic polymer solution, are compared to these mathematical models, and discrepancies are noted.     

Numerical simulation of blade coating with short dwell and roll application coaters

Paper and board are often coated at high speeds with a mineral-based aqueous suspension in order to improve their printing properties. This suspension is usually called coating colour. The flow behaviour of the coating colour in the cavity of the short dwell coater (SDC) and in the vicinity of the blade tip when paper is coated with a stiff blade has been analysed using the finite element method. The models used to simulate the flow incorporated free surfaces and shear-thinning colours. The Newtonian case was in some cases also included in the modelling. The viscosity level and the shear-thinning character of the coating colour had a significant influence on the flow in the SDC cavity, although the overall behaviour was to a large extent governed by the speed of the coater. The pressure distribution along the paper surface in the SDC cavity was also analysed.In agreement with earlier reported results, increasing the machine speed raised the pressure level in the colour close to the blade tip. The rheological properties of the coating colour also affected the flow field and the pressure distribution in this region; e.g. it was found here that a colour with a high viscosity level at low shear rates developed a high pressure level close to the blade tip. The most interesting result revealed by the analysis was that changes in the configuration close to the blade tip (converging flow between the blade tip and the paper and compression of the substrate under the blade tip) and boundary conditions at the blade tip surface had a very significant effect on the pressure distribution. The predictions of the numerical simulation were to some extent compared with experience from practical coating trials.     

Viscoelastic computations for reverse roll coating with dynamic wetting lines and the Phan-Thien-Tanner models

The computational modelling of reverse roll coating with dynamic wetting line has been analysed for various non-Newtonian viscoelastic materials appealing to the Phan-Thien-Tanner (PTT) network class of models suitable for typical polymer solutions, with properties of shear thinning and strain hardening/softening. The numerical technique utilizes a hybrid finite element-sub-cell finite volume algorithm with a dynamic free-surface location, drawing upon a fractional-staged predictor-corrector semi-implicit time-stepping procedure of an incremental pressure-correction form. The numerical solution is investigated following a systematic study which allows for parametric variation in elasticity (We-variation), extensional hardening-softening (ε), and solvent fraction (β). Under incompressible flow conditions, linear PTT (LPTT) and exponential PTT (EPTT) models were used to solve the paint strip coatings, under reverse roll-coating configuration. This involves two-dimensional planar reverse roll-coating domains, considering a range of Weissenberg numbers (We) up to critical levels, addressing velocity fields and vortex development, pressure and lift profiles, shear rate, and stress fields. Various differences are observed when comparing solutions for these constitutive models. Concerning the effects of elasticity, increase in We stimulates vortex structures, which are visible at both the downstream meniscus and upstream narrowest nip region, whilst decreasing the peak pressure and lift values at the nip constriction. At low values (ε > 0.5, β = 0.1) of extensional viscosity, the LPTT flow fields were much easier to extract, attaining critical We levels up to unity, in contrast to critical We levels of 0.4 for EPTT solutions. This finding is reversed at higher extensional viscosity levels (ε < 0.5). This trend reveals qualitative agreement with theoretical studies. Noting flow behaviour under EPTT solution, increasing the peak level of strain hardening/softening is found to stimulate vortex activity around the nip region, with a corresponding increase in peak pressure and lift values.     

Attractors of non-Newtonian fluids

The existence of global attractors is demonstrated for the dynamical systems generated by motions of nonlinear bipolar and non-Newtonian viscous fluids and upper bounds are obtained for the Hausdorff and fractal dimensions of the attractors for the bipolar case.     

Particle motions in non-Newtonian media

Summary An experimental study of the behaviour of rigid and deformable particles suspended in pseudoplastic and elasticoviscous liquids undergoing slowCouette flow was undertaken. The velocity profiles deviated slightly from those obtained forNewtonian fluids, but the measured angular velocities of rigid spheres showed that the rotation of the field was equal to half the velocity gradient. While the measured angular velocities of rods and discs were in accord with theory applicable toNewtonian liquids, in both non-Newtonian media there was a steady drift in the orbit towards an asymptotic value corresponding to minimum energy dissipation in the flow. Furthermore, discs in elasticoviscous solutions of polyacrylamide at higher shear stresses aligned themselves in the direction of the flow and ceased to rotate.Migration of rigid particles across the planes of shear in the annul us of theCouette was also observed. In pseudoplastic liquids, the migration was towards the region of higher shear, whereas the opposite was true in elasticoviscous liquids.The deformation, orientation and burst of pseudoplastic drops inNewtonian liquids and that ofNewtonian drops in pseudoplastic fluids were similar to those previously in completelyNewtonian systems. With elasticoviscous drops, however, the deformation was smaller than given by theory.As in elasticoviscous fluids, two-body collisions of rigid uniform spheres in the pseudoplastic liquids were unsymmetrical and irreversible, thus differing from collisions inNewtonian systems where complete reversibility is observed.While some of the observed phenomena in elasticoviscous suspensions could be qualitatively interpreted, particle behaviour in the pseudoplastic liquids could not be explained in terms of the known rheological properties of the fluids.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurde experimentell das Verhalten von festen und deformierbaren Teilchen untersucht, die bei der Suspension in strukturviskosen und viskoelastischen Flüssigkeiten einer langsamenCouette-Strömung ausgesetzt sind. Die Geschwindigkeitsprofile zeigten gewisse Abweichungen von denenNewtonscher Flüssigkeiten, aber die gemessenen Winkelgeschwindigkeiten der festen Kügelchen ergaben, daß die Drehung des Feldes gleich dem halben Geschwindigkeitsgradienten war. Die gemessenen Winkelgeschwindigkeiten der Stäbchen und Scheiben stimmten mit der Theorie, die auf Newtonsche Flüssigkeiten zutrifft, überein. In beiden nicht-Newtonschen Flüssigkeiten verschob sich jedoch die Kreisbahn stetig zu einem asymptotischen Wert, der einem Minimum der Dissipationsenergie der Strömung entsprach. Scheibchen in viskoelastischen Lösungen von Polyacrylamid richteten sich bei höherer Scherspannung in Strömungsrichtung aus und zeigten keine Drehung mehr.Es wurden auch Wanderungen von festen Teilchen über die Scherebene im Spalt derCouette-Anordnung beobachtet. In strukturviskosen Flüssigkeiten erfolgte die Wanderung in Richtung der höheren Scherung, während auf elastische Flüssigkeiten das Gegenteil zutraf.Die Deformation, Orientierung und das Aufbrechen strukturviskoser Tröpfchen inNewtonschen Flüssigkeiten und das Verhalten von Newtonschen Tröpfchen in strukturviskosen Flüssigkeiten waren den früher in rein-Newtonschen Systemen beobachteten Phänomenen ähnlich. Die Deformation der viskoelastischen Tröpfchen war jedoch kleiner als die von der Theorie vorhergesagt worden war.Zweikörper-Zusammenstöße zwischen festen gleichförmigen Kügelchen in strukturviskosen Flüssigkeiten waren unsymmetritch und irreversibel. Darin unterschieden sie sich von Zusammenstößen inNewtonschen Flüssigkeiten, in denen völlige Umkehrbarkeit beobachtet worden war.Während einige der beobachteten Phänomene in viskoelastischen Suspensionen qualitativ gedeutet werden konnten, ließ sich das Teilchenverhalten in strukturviskosen Flüssigkeiten nicht anhand der bekannten Theologischen Eigenschaften der Flüssigkeiten erklären.

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This work was supported by the Defence Research Board of Canada (DRB Grant 9530-47).     

Turbulent flow of non-Newtonian substances

Summary A unique shear stress-shear rate relationship exists for laminar flow of any time independent substance in a tube, whereas this is not the case for turbulent flow. In order to obtain a unique relationship for turbulent flow, a new approach based on the elementary theoretical interpretation of experimental data is adopted in the present paper. In particular, wall shear stress is found to be a unique function of a new turbulent pseudo shear rate term. In this relationship therè are two parameters which characterize a given substance — the limiting viscosity at high shear rateµ _m and a factor _m which takes into account modification of turbulent structure by the non-Newtonian properties. Both of these parameters must be determined experimentally. Methods of predicting pressure gradients and of scaling up are outlined. In applying the approach to suspensions in which the solid phase has a density greater than that of the liquid medium, it may be important to determine the increment in shear stress equivalent to the energy required to maintain the solid particles in suspension.The validity of this approach is confirmed by data for the flow of a variety of substances including kaolin suspensions and Carbopol solutions in tubes ranging in diameter from 1.5 to 20 mm. Nomenclature C volume fraction solid in suspension - D tube diameter - f Darcy-Weisbach friction factor - g gravitational acceleration - K _s proportionality constant defined by eq. [10] - L length of tube - P pressure - Re Reynolds number - t exponent defined by eq. [1] - V mean velocity - V ^* volume of particles in pipe lengthL - W settling velocity of particles - _m factor defined by eq. [1] - shear rate - turbulent pseudo shear rate defined by eqs. [8] and [9] - _w wall shear stress - ( _w) _s increment in wall shear stress due to presence of settling particles - µ _m limiting viscosity at high rate of shear - ₁ density of carrier liquid - _m density of mixture - _s density of solid Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto and scientific advisor to Worthington (Canada) Ltd.With 8 figures     

Moving boundary in a non-Newtonian fluid

Moving boundary value problem in non-Newtonian fluid is considered. Exact analytical solution for the flow of second-grade fluid for a rigid moving plate oscillating in its own plane, is obtained. The Doppler effect has been observed due to the motion of the plate. The shearing stress on the plate is also calculated. It is concluded that the solutions for stationary porous boundaries can be obtained from the solutions of moving rigid boundaries.