A note on co-current laminar flows of two immiscible elastico-viscous liquids

Summary An analysis is presented of steady (isothermal) co-current laminar flows of two immiscible elasticoviscous liquids in cylindrical channels to include (i) unidirectional stratified flow with ripple-free, plane liquid interface, and (ii) concentric-layered swirling flow with ripple-free cylindrical liquid interface. The general conditions are derived for such two-phase channel flows to be physically realizable. It is shown that, whereas (under certain circumstances)single-phase laminar flows are physically possible,two-phase flows, on the other hand, of liquids of the same class may not be. But liquids of theRoberts type (Roberts 1953), with a normal stress difference equivalent to an extra simple tension along the streamlines in simple shearing, are capable of steady unidirectional flowin all circumstances (whether in single or two-phase flow), though they are not in a privileged position so far astwo-phase swirling flows are concerned.