Constitutive models for linear compressible viscoelastic flows of simple liquids at nanometer length scales

Abstract

Simple bulk liquids such as water are commonly assumed to be Newtonian. While this assumption holds widely, the fluid-structure interaction of mechanical devices at nanometer scales can probe the intrinsic molecular relaxation processes in a surrounding liquid. This was recently demonstrated through measurement of the high frequency (20 GHz) linear mechanical vibrations of bipyramidal nanoparticles in simple liquids [Pelton et al., “Viscoelastic flows in simple liquids generated by vibrating nanostructures,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 244502 (2013)]. In this article, we review and critically assess the available constitutive equations for compressible viscoelastic flows in their linear limits—such models are required for analysis of the above-mentioned measurements. We show that previous models, with the exception of a very recent proposal, do not reproduce the required response at high frequency. We explain the physical origin of this recent model and show that it recovers all required features of a linear viscoelastic flow. This constitutive equation thus provides a rigorous foundation for the analysis of vibrating nanostructures in simple liquids. The utility of this model is demonstrated by solving the fluid-structure interaction of two common problems: (1) a sphere executing radial oscillations in liquid, which depends strongly on the liquid compressibility and (2) the extensional mode vibration of bipyramidal nanoparticles in liquid, where the effects of liquid compressibility are negligible. This highlights the importance of shear and compressional relaxation processes, as a function of flow geometry, and the impact of the shear and bulk viscosities on nanometer scale flows.