Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T01:09:21.014Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A model for the dynamics of polymers in laminar shear flows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

D. E. Keyes
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
F. H. Abernathy
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract

A novel primitive model is proposed for the hydrodynamic behaviour of an isolated dissolved polymer molecule in a laminar shear flow. The model, in which inertial effects are neglected, allows for rotation and partial stretching of the molcule, but not for bending. Dilute solutions of flexible long-chain polymers have been experimentally observed to exhibit periodic velocity fluctuations distinct from turbulence over a broad frequency range when flowed in high-shear-rate water-table and pipe configurations. In these experiments, the frequency of the fluctuations does not increase with increasing shear rate; rather, it is lowest in the regions of the flow where the shear is the highest. A manifestation of viscous shear thickening has also been observed in these laminar flows. The proposed polymer representation appears capable of accounting for the salient features of these flows with adjustment of a single dimensionless parameter, a ratio of polymer-spring and solvent-viscosity forces.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1987 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abernathy, F. H., Bertschy, J. R., Chin, R. W. & Keyes, D. E. 1980 Polymer-induced fluctuations in high-strain rate laminar flows. J. Rheol. 24, 647665.Google Scholar
Abernathy, F. H. & He, Z.-Y. 1984 Polymer induced velocity fluctuations in dilute drag reducing pipe flows. In Proc. Third Intl Conf. on Drag Reduction, University of Bristol, UK (ed. J. H. J. Sellin & R. T. Moses), pp. B.8.1B.8.8. International Association for Hydraulic Research.
Abernathy, F. H. & He, Z.-Y. 1987 Friction Factor, Velocity Profile and Spectrum Measurements in Drag Reducing Pipe Flows. To be submitted to J. Fluid Mech.Google Scholar
Bird, R. B., Hassager, O., Armstrong, R. C. & Curtiss, C. F. 1977 Dynamics of Polymeric Liquids, vol. 2. Wiley.
Brenner, H. 1961 The slow motion of a sphere through a viscous fluid towards a plane surface. Chem. Engng Sci. 16, 242251.Google Scholar
Bretherton, F. P. 1962 The motion of rigid particles in a shear flow at low Reynolds number. J. Fluid Mech. 14, 284304.Google Scholar
Jeffery, G. B. 1922 The motion of ellipsoidal particles immersed in a viscous fluid. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 102, 161179.Google Scholar
Kim, S. & Mifflin, R. T. 1985 The resistance and mobility functions of two equal spheres in low-Reynolds-number flow. Phys. Fluids, 28, 20332045.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. J. & Mazur, J. 1975 Ordered spans of unrestricted and self-avoiding random-walk models of polymer chains. I. Space-fixed axes. J. Chem. Phys. 63, 53625374.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. J. & Mazur, J. 1977 Spans of polymer chains measured with respect to chain-fixed axes. Macromolecules, 10, 139149.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. J., Mazur, J. & Weiss, G. H. 1976 Spans of polymer chains. Pure Appl. Chem. 46, 143148.Google Scholar
Sôlc, K. 1971 Shape of a random-flight chain. J. Chem. Phys. 55, 335344.Google Scholar
Sôlc, K. & Stockmayer, W. H. 1971 Shape of a random-flight chain. J. Chem. Phys. 54, 27562757.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1923 The motion of ellipsoidal particles in a viscous fluid. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 108, 5861.Google Scholar