Computation of Viscoelastic flow in a cylindrical tank with a rotating lid

An orthogonal collocation method is used to compute steady flows of viscoelastic fluids in a cylindrical tank covered by a rotating disk. The stability of these flows with respect to small disturbances is also analyzed. The Criminale-Ericksen-Filbey constitutive equation is used, since the primary flow is viscometric and the secondary flow is small. The solutions satisfy the equation of continuity and the boundary conditions exactly, including the velocity discontinuity at the edge of the disk. The computed flows for aqueous solutions of Separan 30 exhibit single or double vortices, according to the concentration and the rotation speed. Reasonable agreement is found with the data of Hill 7,8].