Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics最新文献

An experimental study of the turbulent dynamics of emulsification in a cross-slot microfluidic device is presented. The continuous phase contains a minute amount of an inelastic polymer (xanthan). The Reynolds numbers are sufficiently large (up to 16000) so the drag reduction phenomenon is observed during the emulsification process. The statistics of droplet sizes in the resulting emulsions are measured ex-situ by means of digital microscopy in a wide range of Reynolds numbers and polymer concentrations in the continuous phase. Integral measurements of the statistics of the pressure drops in the micro-channel allow one to systematically map the drag reduction states. Corresponding to each state, the space–time dynamics of the emulsification process are assessed by means of in-situ high speed imaging of the interface between the two fluids which further allows one to extract the characteristic time and space scales associated to the dynamics of the interface. Various dynamic regimes of the microscopic emulsification process are mapped in terms of the Reynolds number and shear thinning rheology of the continuous phase.

This article introduces a method to determine the Kolmogorov rheological scales for turbulent flow in Viscoelastic Oldroyd-B fluids. The findings reveal a noteworthy characteristic wherein the Kolmogorov rheological length is consistently smaller than that observed in Newtonian cases. Moreover, this length diminishes with an increase in the prominence of elastic effects. Leveraging these rheological scales, a detailed friction equation for turbulent flow in Oldroyd-B fluids is derived. The resultant friction relationship exhibits a high degree of agreement with existing theories. Notably, it delineates the Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR) scenario for the studied case ($\beta$=0.9). Additionally, the investigation delves into the onset of drag reduction effects, shedding light on the transitional phases in viscoelastic fluid flows.

In this work, we propose a functionalised bi-viscous lubrication model to study the material properties of concentrated non-Brownian suspensions and explore the possible confinement-induced non-Newtonian effects of the lubricant in the rheological response of this type of suspensions. From tribological studies, it is well-known that even macroscopically Newtonian liquids under strong confinement might exhibit properties which deviate significantly from their bulk behaviour. When two surfaces separated by an extremely small gap (still large compared to the molecular size) are sheared, strong shear-thinning of the lubricant viscosity at low shear-rates is observed, in spite of its Newtonian-like bulk response. This is connected to a significant increase of the zero-shear-rate viscosity under extreme confinement. We start from an effective lubrication algorithm recently proposed and develop a new gap-size-dependent interparticle bi-viscous lubrication model, able to capture qualitatively the main phenomenology of confined lubricants. We solve the lubrication interaction between particles iteratively via a semi-implicit splitting scheme. Since the handling of lubrication is made implicitly here, the method copes efficiently with large increases of the inter-particle effective viscosities, which would otherwise lead to simulation blow-up or the use of vanishing time-steps in standard explicit schemes. We analyse the rheological response of the suspension systematically in terms of model parameters. In contrast to pure Newtonian lubrication interactions, distinct shear-thinning and shear-thickening regimes in the relative suspension viscosity are observed, which are discussed in terms of particle microstructure coupled with the complex rheology of the confined lubricant. In addition, normal-stress response is negative in both $N_1$ and $N_2$, which is difficult to achieve with standard contact frictional models.

Helical static mixers are used widely for mixing of non-Newtonian fluid flows in the laminar regime. We study flows of three viscoelastic constitutive models (sPTT, FENE-P, and Giesekus) in the helical static mixer using computational fluid dynamics. These three models have similarities in steady viscometric flows in that they all exhibit shear thinning and their planar extensional viscosities can be matched, but their responses can differ in complex geometries. We observe flow distribution asymmetries at the element intersections for all three models, which hinders the mixing performance of the device. These have previously been observed with the constant shear viscosity FENE-CR model. The asymmetry behaves similarly between the sPTT and Giesekus models, however the FENE-P model behaves in a distinct manner; beyond a critical degree of elasticity, the asymmetry sharply changes direction. This was also observed previously with the FENE-CR model. These results suggest that shear thinning and second-normal stress differences (present in the Giesekus model) do not significantly influence mixing performance in the range of conditions studied. We show that increasing the aspect (length/diameter) ratio of the mixer elements mitigates the poor mixing caused by elasticity. Overall, this study provides insight into the behaviour of these well-used constitutive models in complex, industrially-relevant flows.

The increase in viscosity under shear known as shear thickening (ST) is an inherent property of a wide variety of dense particulate suspensions. Recent studies indicate that ST systems formed by fractal particles are promising candidates for various practical applications. However, ST in fractal systems remains poorly explored. Here we experimentally study the ST behavior in suspensions of hydrophilic fumed silica (FS) particles in glycerol. Remarkably, unlike non-fractal systems, we observe a strong dependence of the onset stress for ST on the volume fraction of fractal objects and a reversible weakening of the ST response that depends strongly on the particle volume fraction as well as the properties of the FS system. Using in-situ boundary imaging, we map out the spatio-temporal flow properties during ST for different FS systems. We find that the fractal nature and structural properties like the internal branching of the particles can qualitatively explain the complex ST phase diagram of these systems.

Few simulations currently explore the dynamics of microswimmers swimming through viscoelastic environments. In this study, we employ a direct-forcing fictitious domain method to investigate the collective behavior of spherical squirmers within viscoelastic fluids at low Reynolds numbers. Our findings reveal clear differences between pusher and puller swimmers: puller swimmers exhibit a tendency to aggregate into clusters, particularly noticeable in suspensions with high concentrations, which increases the average speed of the swimmers. Through an analysis of the cluster-size distribution function, we observe the larger-scale clusters of puller swimmers with increasing concentration. Moreover, the presence of fluid elasticity significantly reduces both the average swimming speed of squirmers and the fluid’s kinetic energy.

Droplet-based microfluidic devices can be powered or manipulated by applying an external electric field, and the ability to precisely control the flow in such devices is essential for various engineering and biomedical applications. In this numerical study, we investigate the deformation dynamics of a viscoelastic droplet in a ratchet microchannel under the influence of an AC electric field. We employ the leaky-dielectric electrohydrodynamic model for both the immiscible fluid phases coupled with the Oldroyd-B model for the droplet fluid. The effect of geometrical parameters such as the type of ratchet and the wavenumber of the ratchets along with the flow parameters such as the electrocapillary number, Weissenberg number and the capillary number significantly affect the droplet shape dynamics and the polymer chain extension. For the parameters considered in this work, the electric force tends to stretch the droplet in the streamwise direction and enhances the droplet deformation and polymer extension. Several interesting effects arise as a result of the coupling of the periodic hydrodynamic forcing of the ratchet walls and the electric field. Specifically, an exponential rise in the polymer chain extension for higher ratchet wavenumbers is observed, along with the cross-stream migration of the droplet for higher electrocapillary numbers when it reaches the outlet of the ratchet constriction.

To capture specific characteristics of non-Newtonian fluids, during the past years fractional constitutive models have become increasingly popular. These models are able to capture, in a simple and compact way, the complex behaviour of viscoelastic materials, such as the change in power-law relaxation pattern during the relaxation process of some materials. Using the Lagrangian Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method we can easily track particle history; this allows us to solve integral constitutive models in a novel way, without relying on complex tasks.

Hence, we develop here a SPH integral viscoelastic method which is first validated for simple Maxwell or Oldroyd-B models under Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (SAOS) and start-up channel flows. By exploiting the structure of the integral method, a multi-mode Maxwell model is then implemented. Finally, the method is extended to include fractional constitutive models, validating the approach by comparing results with theory.

The imbalance of normal stress around a particle induces its transverse migration in pressure-driven viscoelastic flow, offering possibilities for particle manipulation in microfluidic devices. Theoretical predictions align with experimental evidence of particles migrating towards the center-line of the flow. However, these arguments have been challenged by both experimental and numerical investigations, revealing the potential for a reversal in the direction of migration for viscoelastic shear-thinning fluids. Yet, a significant property of viscoelastic liquids that remains largely unexplored is the ratio of solvent viscosity to the sum of solvent and polymer viscosities, denoted as $\beta$. We computed the lift coefficients of a freely flowing cylinder in a bi-dimensional Poiseuille flow with Oldroyd-B constitutive equations. A transition from a negative (center-line migration) to a positive (wall migration) lift coefficient was demonstrated with increasing $\beta$ values. Analogous to inertial lift, the changes in the sign of the lift coefficient were strongly correlated with abrupt (albeit small) variations in the rotation velocity of the particle. We established a scaling law for the lift coefficient that is proportional, as expected, to the Weissenberg number, but also to the difference in rotation velocity between the viscoelastic and Newtonian cases. If the particle rotates more rapidly than in the Newtonian case, it migrates towards the wall; conversely, if the particle rotates more slowly than in the Newtonian case, it migrates towards the center-line of the channel. Finally, experiments in microfluidic slits confirmed migration towards the wall for viscoelastic fluids with high viscosity ratio.