Extrudate swell for a round jet with large surface tension

The problem of extrudate swell of a viscoelastic fluid from a round pipe is studied by the method of domain perturbations. The perturbation problems are solved by a finite-element method through second-order in the flow rate parameter ∈ for small flow rates. The analysis extends the work of Sturges on swelling in two-dimensional channels to round capillary tubes. In perturbation studies for small ∈, the rheology of the fluid may be expressed by three parameters, the viscosity and the two constants α₁ and α₂ appearing at order two in the expansion of the extra stress around zero shear. Surface tension has an important influence on the shape of the jet at low speeds. The shape of the surface on a round jet depends on α₁ and α₂, in the plane jet only on α₁. The analysis predicts that no matter what the constitutive equation may be, the jet will first contract if the radius of the pipe is sufficiently small. The contraction takes place in a length less than $\text{1}\text{10}$ the diameter of the jet and is followed by a swell. The contraction is usually small and may be hard to observe. There are five different contributions to the jet shape at second-order but only the viscoelastic ones persist as the pipe radius goes to zero.