Experimental investigations and numerical simulations for an open channel flow of a weak elastic polymer solution around a T-profile

Abstract

The present paper is concerned with experimental and numerical investigations of planar complex flows of "weak" elastic polymer solutions (whose concentration are below the critical overlap concentration), characterised by small relaxation times (lambda<0.1 s) and almost constant shear viscosities for small and medium shear rates. The main aim of the study is to detect to what extent a very small amount of elasticity present in a viscous fluid can influence its behaviour in complex flows, without introducing major modifications of classical rheological tests. The samples are polymer solutions of low PIB molecular weight dissolved in highly viscous Newtonian mineral oil. The analysed motion is steady, and takes place in an open channel around a "T" profile. Maximum values of the characteristic parameters for the experiments, the Reynolds and Weissenberg numbers, were 45 and 0.1, respectively. The experiments show a decrease of the wake length downstream the profile for weak elastic solutions in comparison to the Newtonian solvent. Actually, the same wake length as in the Newtonian case was obtained for tested polymer solutions, but at higher Re numbers. Numerical simulations using the Giesekus model predict the same behaviour and are consistent with experiments from both qualitative and quantitative point of views. The results of research conclude that, even in small amounts, the presence of elasticity in pure viscous liquids induces quantitative changes from Newtonian flow in complex dominant elongational flows, at elongational rates for which the sudden thickening of extensional viscosity is remarkable. The study is important, since it should enable better understanding and modelling of viscoelastic flows that involve dilute polymer solutions, or fluids with similar rheology; biofluid mechanics being one area of application of this research. Corroboration of experimental flow visualization with numerical simulation is currently a feasible method used to characterise weak elastic polymer solutions, since classical rheological techniques generally fail to obtain realistic values of relaxation time for these particular viscoelastic fluids.