Numerical Simulation of Viscoelastic Flow in Three-Dimensional Rectangular Abrupt Contraction Channels

Numerical simulation of viscoelastic flow in two three-dimensional (3-D) rectangular abrupt contraction channels was carried out using the Giesekus model. The HSMAC (Highly Simplified Marker and Cell) scheme was applied to solve the discretized basic equations. 3-D flow patterns and the distribution of vortex size were investigated to elucidate 3-D flow property. Several 3-D flow phenomena such as a spiral flow were predicted. The effect of wall was strong when the aspect ratio of the channel (width/height) was small, and the 3-D flow behavior was notable near the channel wall: the vortex size drastically changed near the wall.