On the lubrication approximation for a class of viscoelastic fluids

We present a rigorous derivation of a dimensionally reduced Reynolds type equation for thin film flow lubrication of a class of viscoelastic fluids by employing a perturbation analysis on the upper-convected Maxwell model in natural orthogonal coordinates. This approximation accounts for the viscoelastic and curvature corrections to the classical Reynolds lubrication approximation. Comparison of our approximation with the classical Reynolds approximation suggests that viscoelasticity can have a significant influence on the lubrication characteristics, at least for certain values of the film thickness and of the eccentricity ratios of the journal bearing.     

Computation of flow of viscoelastic fluids by parameter differentiation

A technique combining the features of parameter differentiation and finite differences is presented to compute the flow of viscoelastic fluids. Two flow problems are considered: (i) three-dimensional flow near a stagnation point and (ii) axisymmetric flow due to stretching of a sheet. Both flows are characterized by a boundary value problem in which the order of the differential equation exceeds the number of boundary conditions. The exact numerical solutions are obtained using the technique described in the paper. Also, the first-order perturbation solutions (in terms of the viscoelastic fluid parameter) are derived. A comparison of the results shows that the perturbation method is inadequate in predicting some of the vital characteristic features of the flows, which can possibly be revealed only by the exact numerical solution.     

Efficient simulation of nonlinear viscoelastic fluid flows

This paper presents a new and efficient method for computing the flow of a non-Newtonian fluid. The approach is based on two independent concepts:Time-dependent simulation of viscoelastic flow: A new decoupled algorithm, presented in P. Saramito, Simulation numérique d'ecoulements de fluides viscoélastiques par éléments finis incompressibles et une méthode de directions alternées; applications, Thèse de l'Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, 1990 and P. Saramito, Numerical simulation of viscoelastic fluid flows using incompressible finite element method and a θ-method, Math. Modelling Num. Anal., 35 (1994) 1–35, enables us to split the major difficulties of this problem, and to solve it more efficiently. Moreover, this scheme is of order two in time, and can be used to obtain stationary flows in an efficient way.Conservative finite element method: this method combines the incompressible Raviart Thomas element, the discontinuous Lesaint-Raviart element, and a finite volume element method. It satisfies exactly the mass conservation law, and leads to an optimal size for the nonlinear system in terms of the total degree of freedom versus the mesh size.We apply our numerical procedure to the Phan-Thien-Tanner model with a classical benchmark: the four to one abrupt contraction. The numerical solutions exhibit good behavior, especially near the singularity, in the vicinity of the re-entrant corner. The numerical experiments present the main features of such flows: vortex development and overshooting of the velocity profile along the axis of symmetry in the entry region.     

A three-dimensional non-linear constitutive law for magnetorheological fluids, with applications

In this paper we first summarize the magnetic and mechanical balance equations for magnetorheological fluids undergoing steady motion in the presence of a magnetic field. A general three-dimensional non-linear constitutive law for such a fluid is given for the case in which the magnetic induction vector is used as the independent magnetic variable. The equations are needed for the analysis of boundary-value problems involving fluids with dispersed micron-sized ferrous particles subjected to a time-independent magnetic field. For illustration, the equations are applied, in the case of an incompressible fluid, to the solution of some basic problems. We consider unidirectional flow in a region confined by two infinite parallel plates with a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plates. Next, we examine two problems involving a circular cylindrical geometry with the fluid occupying the region between two concentric cylinders: axial flow subjected to an axial magnetic field and circumferential flow with a circumferential field. After making some simplifying assumptions on the constitutive law and choosing material parameters, numerical solutions for the velocity profiles are illustrated.     

Parallel computation of the flow of integral viscoelastic fluids on a heterogeneous network of workstations

We consider the parallel computation of flows of integral viscoelastic fluids on a heterogeneous network of workstations. The proposed methodology is relevant to computational mechanics problems which involve a compute-intensive treatment of internal variables (e.g. fibre suspension flow and deformation of viscoplastic solids). The main parallel computing issue in such applications is that of load balancing. Both static and dynamic allocation of work to processors are considered in the present paper. The proposed parallel algorithms have been implemented in an experimental, parallel version of the commercial POLYFLOW package developed in Louvain-la-Neuve. The implementation uses the public domain PVM software library (Parallel Virtual Machine), which we have extended in order to ease porting to heterogeneous networks. We describe parallel efficiency results obtained with three PVM configurations, involving up to seven workstations with maximum relative processing speeds of five. The physical problems are the stick/slip and abrupt contraction flows of a K.B.K.Z. integral fluid. Using static allocation, parallel efficiencies in the range 67%–85% were obtained on a PVM network with four workstations having relative speeds of 2:1:1:1. Parallel efficiencies higher than 90% were obtained on the three PVM configurations using the dynamic load-balancing schemes.     

A hybrid method for computing the flow of viscoelastic fluids

A hybrid method for computing the flow of viscoelastic and second-order fluids is presented. It combines the features of the finite difference technique and the shooting method. The method is accurate because it uses central differences. Its convergence is at least superlinear. The method is applied to obtain the solutions to three problems of flow of Walters' B' fluid: (a) flow near a stagnation point, (b) flow over a stretching sheet and (c) flow near a rotating disk. Numerical results reveal some new characteristics of flows which are not easy to demonstrate using the perturbation technique.     

Compliance effects on the torsional flow of a viscoelastic fluid

The effects of transducer compliance on transient stress measurements in torsional flows of a viscoelastic fluid are investigated theoretically. The analysis is based on the torsional flow of an upper-convected Maxwell fluid between a rotating and ‘stationary’ disk, which is allowed to twist and displace axially as a result of the stresses exerted on the disk by the fluid. An approximate analytical solution to the governing equations is obtained using a standard perturbation method. Results of the analysis are used to examine how the fluid velocity is altered by the motion of the stationary disk and to gain insight on how transient stress measurements are affected by transducer compliance. The analysis shows that compliance effects increase with applied shear rate and that the effects of torsional and axial compliance are coupled in measurements of the shear stress and first normal stress difference.     

Effects of shear thinning on migration of neutrally buoyant particles in pressure driven flow of Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids

The pattern of cross stream migration of neutrally buoyant particles in a pressure driven flow depends strongly on the properties of the suspending fluid. These migration effects have been studied by direct numerical simulation in planar flow. Shear thinning has a large effect when the inertia or elasticity is large, but only a small effect when they are small. At moderate Reynolds numbers, shear thinning causes particles to migrate away from the centerline, creating a particle-free zone in the core of the channel, which increases with the amount of shear thinning. In a viscoelastic fluid with shear thinning, particles migrate either toward the centerline or toward the walls, creating an annular particle-free zone at intermediate radii. The simulations also give rise to precise determination of slip velocity distributions in the various cases studied.     

Extensional flow of a viscoelastic filament governed by the FENE-CR model

A thin filament model is used to analyze the extensional flow of a viscoelastic thread governed by the FENE-CR model. The problem is solved numerically by finite differences using a third-order upwind scheme in space and a second order Runge-Kutta scheme in time. The behavior of the filament is controlled by the competing effects of surface tension and axial normal stresses which are characterized in terms of three-dimensional groups, the Deborah number De, the extensibility parameter L and the capillary number Ca. Surface tension has a destabilizing effect causing the filament to thin in the mid-section leading to a rupture. On the other hand normal stresses tend to stabilize the filament. If axial normal stresses are sufficiently large the filament deforms almost uniaxially due to strain hardening.     

Uniform flow of viscoelastic fluids past a confined falling cylinder

Uniform steady flow of viscoelastic fluids past a cylinder placed between two moving parallel plates is investigated numerically with a finite-volume method. This configuration is equivalent to the steady settling of a cylinder in a viscoelastic fluid, and here, a 50% blockage ratio is considered. Five constitutive models are employed (UCM, Oldroyd-B, FENE-CR, PTT and Giesekus) to assess the effect of rheological properties on the flow kinematics and wake patterns. Simulations were carried out under creeping flow conditions, using very fine meshes, especially in the wake of the cylinder where large normal stresses are observed at high Deborah numbers. Some of the results are compared with numerical data from the literature, mainly in terms of a drag coefficient, and significant discrepancies are found, especially for the constant-viscosity constitutive models. Accurate solutions could be obtained up to maximum Deborah numbers clearly in excess of those reported in the literature, especially with the PTT and FENE-CR models. The existence or not of a negative wake is identified for each set of model parameters.     

Flow visualization of the elastic Taylor-Couette instability in Boger fluids

Flow visualization is performed on an elastically-dominated instability in several similar Boger fluids in Taylor-Couette flow. The onset and evolution of secondary flow are observed over a range of shear rates using reflective mica platelet seeding. Sequences of ambiently and sheet-illuminated images were digitally processed. Rotation of the inner cylinder was ramped from rest to its final value over a time on the order of a polymer relaxation time. Dilute solutions of high molecular weight polyisobutylene in oligomeric polybutene manifest a flow transition at a Deborah number, De _s = _s 1.5 with a Taylor number of 0.00022 in a cell with dimensionless gap ratio = 0.0963. At this transition, simple azimuthal shearing is replaced by steady, roughly square, axisymmetric counter-rotating vortices grossly similar to the well-known Taylor vortex flow that is observed at De _s = 0, Ta = 3612. At De _s = 3.75, Ta = 0.0014, an axisymmetric oscillatory secondary flow develops initially but is replaced by the steady vortices. At De _s = 7.5, Ta = 0.0054, the oscillatory and vortex flow coexist and possess an irregular cellular cross-section. A wide span of growth rates is observed: the ratio of onset to polymer relaxation time ranges from 170000 at De _s = 1.5 to O(10) at De _s > 5. The role of inertia was explored through changing the solvent viscosity. A transition similar to the one that occurs at De _s = 3.75, Ta = 0.0014, from the base azimuthal shearing flow to axisymmetric vortices, was also observed with a much lower viscosity fluid at De _s = 3.3, Ta = 74.     

On the flow resistance of viscoelastic fluids through packed beds

Analytical solutions are obtained for the free surface cell model of packed beds using a third order fluid. Second order perturbed results indicate a substantial increase in resistance to the flow of a viscoelastic fluid through a packed bed. This predicted increase is in good agreement with experimental findings.     

Flow of viscoelastic fluids through a porous channel—I

The flow of viscoelastic fluids through a porous channel with one impermeable wall is computed. The flow is characterized by a boundary value problem in which the order of the differential equation exceeds the number of boundary conditions. Three solutions are developed: (i) an exact numerical solution, (ii) a perturbation solution for small R, the cross-flow Reynold's number and (iii) an asymptotic solution for large R. The results from exact numerical integration reveal that the solutions for a non-Newtonian fluid are possible only up to a critical value of the viscoelastic fluid parameter, which decreases with an increase in R. It is further demonstrated that the perturbation solution gives acceptable results only if the viscoelastic fluid parameter is also small. Two more related problems are considered: fluid dynamics of a long porous slider, and injection of fluid through one side of a long vertical porous channel. For both the problems, exact numerical and other solutions are derived and appropriate conclusions drawn.     

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 note on start-up and large amplitude oscillatory shear flow of multimode viscoelastic fluids

Start up of plane Couette flow and large amplitude oscillatory shear flow of single and multimode Maxwell fluids as well as Oldroyd-B fluids have been analyzed by analytical or semi-analytical procedures. The result of our analysis indicates that if a single or a multimode Maxwell fluid has a relaxation time comparable or smaller than the rate of change of force imparted on the fluid, then the fluid response is not singular as Elasticity Number (E ). However, if this is not the case, as E , perturbations of single and multimode Maxwell fluids give rise to highly oscillatory velocity and stress fields. Hence, their behavior is singular in this limit. Moreover, we have observed that transients in velocity and stresses that are caused by propagation of shear waves in Maxwell fluids are damped much more quickly in the presence of faster and faster relaxing modes. In addition, we have shown that the Oldroyd-B model gives rise to results quantitatively similar to multimode Maxwell fluids at times larger than the fastest relaxation time of the multimode Maxwell fluid. This suggests that the effect of fast relaxing modes is equivalent to viscous effects at times larger than the fastest relaxation time of the fluid. Moreover, the analysis of shear wave propagation in multimode Maxwell fluids clearly show that the dynamics of wave propagation are governed by an effective relaxation and viscosity spectra. Finally, no quasi-periodic or chaotic flows were observed as a result of interaction of shear waves in large amplitude oscillatory shear flows for any combination of frequency and amplitudes.     

On the stability of the torsional flow of a class of Oldroyd-type fluids

It is shown that the exact solution of the torsional flow of a class of Oldroyd-type fluids is kinematically similar to that for a Newtonian fluid. Furthermore, it is shown by a linearized stability analysis and by numerical integration, that the basic flow is unstable at high Weissenberg numbers. An Oldroyd fluid which has a negative second-normal stress coefficient is found to be more stable than one with zero (or positive) second-normal stress coefficient in this flow.     

Non-Newtonian flow past a sphere in a long cylindrical tube

Consideration is given to the problem of a sphere falling along the axis of a vertical cylindrical tube containing a viscoelastic fluid. Numerical predictions of the flow are obtained using a well established finite element Galerkin mixed formulation. The effect of elasticity on the streamline pattern, the drag and the stress field are discussed.     

A finite element analysis of laminar unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluids through channels with non-uniform cross-sections

The effects of non-Newtonian behaviour of a fluid and unsteadiness on flow in a channel with non-uniform cross-section have been investigated. The rheological behaviour of the fluid is assumed to be described by the constitutive equation of a viscoelastic fluid obeying the Oldroyd-B model. The finite element method is used to analyse the flow. The novel features of the present method are the adoption of the velocity correction technique for the momentum equations and of the two-step explicit scheme for the extra stress equations. This approach makes the computational scheme simple in algorithmic structure, which therefore implies that the present technique is capable of handling large-scale problems. The scheme is completed by the introduction of balancing tensor diffusivity (wherever necessary) in the momentum equations. It is important to mention that the proper boundary condition for pressure (at the outlet) has been developed to solve the pressure Poisson equation, and then the results for velocity, pressure and extra stress fields have been computed for different values of the Weissenberg number, viscosity due to elasticity, etc. Finally, it is pertinent to point out that the present numerical scheme, along with the proper boundary condition for pressure developed here, demonstrates its versatility and suitability for analysing the unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid through a channel with non-uniform cross-section.