Development of secondary flows in viscoelastic curved ducts and the influence of outlet region

This paper presents numerical simulations of Newtonian and viscoelastic flows through a 180° curved duct of square cross section with a long straight outlet region. A particular attention is paid to the development of the flow in the output rectangular region after the curved part. The viscoelastic fluid is modeled using the constitutive equation proposed by Phan–Thien–Tanner (PTT). The numerical results, obtained with a finite-volume method, are shown for three different Dean numbers (125,137,150)$(125,137,150)$ and for three Deborah numbers (0.1,0.2,0.3)$(0.1,0.2,0.3)$. The necessary outlet length to impose boundary conditions is presented and discussed for these cases. Streamlines and vortex formation are shown to illustrate and analyze the evolution of the secondary flow in this region.