Polymeric fluids modeling flows

The (CEF) model (see Chapter 1) provides a simple means for obtaining useful results for steady-state viscometric flow of polymeric fluids (Tanner, 1985). In this approach the extra stress in the equation of motion is replaced by explicit relationships in terms of rate of strain components. For example, assuming a zero second normal stress difference for veiy slow flow regimes such relationships arc written as (Mitsoulis et at., 1985)... 

With the above information, it becomes possible to combine viscous characteristics with elastic characteristics to describe the viscoelasticity of polymeric materials.86-90 The two simplest ways of combining these features are shown in Figure 2.49, where a spring having a modulus G models the elastic response. The viscous response is modelled by what is called a dashpot. It consists of a piston moving in a cylinder containing a viscous fluid of viscosity r. If a downward force is applied to the cylinder, more fluid flows into it, whereas an upward force causes some of the fluid to flow out. The flow is retarded because of the high viscosity and this element thus models the retarded movement and flow of polymer chains. 

In a complex, polymeric liquid, normal stresses as well as the shear stress can be present, and these contributions will influence the shape of the structure factor. The simplest rheological constitutive model that can account for normal stresses is the second-order fluid model [64], where the first and second normal stress differences are quadratic functions of the shear rate. Calculations using this model [92,93,94,90,60], indicate that the appearance of normal stresses can rotate the structure factor towards the direction of flow in the case of simple shear flow and can induce a four-fold symmetry in the case of exten-sional flow. 

I would also like to list some of the challenges that will provide the foundation for where the profession has to go (Fig. 2). This is not meant to be comprehensive, but to suggest some of what we should be doing. This wish list derives from work Bob Brown and I have done on modeling flows of polymer fluids. The first item has to do with the need to understand the effects of polymer structure and rheology on flow transitions in polymeric liquids and on polymer processing operations. In the past, we ve studied extensively the behavior of Newtonian fluids and how Newtonian flows evolve as, say, the Reynolds number is varied. We have tools available to... 

Polymeric fluids are the most studied of all complex fluids. Their rich rheological behavior is deservedly the topic of numerous books and is much too vast a subject to be covered in detail here. We must therefore limit ourselves to an overview. The interested reader can obtain more thorough presentations in the following references a book by Ferry (1980), which concentrates on the linear viscoelasticity of polymeric fluids, a pair of books by Bird et al. (1987a,b), which cover polymer constitutive equations, molecular models, and elementary fluid mechanics, books by Tanner (1985), by Dealy and Wissbrun (1990), and by Baird and Dimitris (1995), which emphasize kinematics and polymer processing flows, a book by Macosko (1994) focusing on measurement methods and a book by Larson (1988) on polymer constitutive equations. Parts of this present chapter are condensed versions of material from Larson (1988). The static properties of flexible polymer molecules are discussed in Section 2.2.3 their chemistry is described in Flory (1953). 

During the last ten years the interest in polymeric liquid crystals (PLCs) has been growing rapidly. Nevertheless our fundamental understanding of their flow behaviour is still rather limited. This is due to the fact that PLC rheology is much more complicated than that of ordinary isotropic polymeric fluids (1). Systematic and reliable data are lacking so far although this is the kind of information needed for the development and assessment of theoretical models for these unusual fluids. 

Rawlings JB, Ray WH (1988) The Modeling of Batch and Continuous Emulsion Polymerization Reactors. Part 1 Model Formulation and Sensitivity to Parameters. Polymer Engineering and Science 28(5) 237-256 Reyes Jr JN (1989) Statistically derived conservation equations for fluid particle flows. Proc ANS Winter Meeting. Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics, 5th Winter Meeting... 

Eberle APR, et al. Modeling the rheology and orientation distribution of short glass fibers suspended by polymeric fluids simple shear flow. ANTEC, conference proceedings. Society of Plastics Engineers 2007. 

R. K. Upadhyay and A. I. Isayev, Elongational flow behavior of polymeric fluids according to the Leonov model, Rheol. Acta 22, 557-568 (1983). 

Here r]o is the zero shear viscosity and tm is the value of Ty when r] = j rjo- Actually most polymeric fluids exhibit a constant viscosity at low shear rates and then shear thin at higher shear rates (see Fig. 2.5). A model that is used often in numerical calculations, because it fits the full flow curve, is the Bird-Carreau model. 

Shear thinning or pseudoplastic behavior is an important property that must be taken into account in the design of polymer processes. However, it is not the only property, and in Chapter 3 models that describe the viscoelastic response of polymeric fluids will be discussed. However, first we would like to solve some basic one-dimensional isothermal flow problems using the shell momentum balance and the empiricisms for viscosity described in this section. 

B.3 Forced Convection Heat Transfer in Tubes-Short Contact Times. A polymeric fluid whose viscosity function is described by the Ellis model is flowing through the tube as shown in Figure 5.26. Determine the temperature profile and the wall heat flux for the... 

Modeling the Rheology and Orientation Distribution of Short Glass Fibers Suspended in Polymeric Fluids Simple Shear Flow... 

Computer modelling provides powerful and convenient tools for the quantitative analysis of fluid dynamics and heat transfer in non-Newtonian polymer flow systems. Therefore these techniques arc routmely used in the modern polymer industry to design and develop better and more efficient process equipment and operations. The main steps in the development of a computer model for a physical process, such as the flow and deformation of polymeric materials, can be summarized as ... 

The devolatilization of a component in an internal mixer can be described by a model based on the penetration theory [27,28]. The main characteristic of this model is the separation of the bulk of material into two parts A layer periodically wiped onto the wall of the mixing chamber, and a pool of material rotating in front of the rotor flights, as shown in Figure 29.15. This flow pattern results in a constant exposure time of the interface between the material and the vapor phase in the void space of the internal mixer. Devolatilization occurs according to two different mechanisms Molecular diffusion between the fluid elements in the surface layer of the wall film and the pool, and mass transport between the rubber phase and the vapor phase due to evaporation of the volatile component. As the diffusion rate of a liquid or a gas in a polymeric matrix is rather low, the main contribution to devolatilization is based on the mass transport between the surface layer of the polymeric material and the vapor phase. 

There are some fundamental investigations devoted to analysis of the flow in tubular polymerization reactors where the viscosity of the final product has a limit (viscosity < >) i.e., the reactive mass is fluid up to the end of the process. As a zero approximation, flow can be considered to be one-dimensional, for which it is assumed that the velocity is constant across the tube cross-section. This is a model of an ideal plug reactor, and it is very far from reality. A model with a Poiseuille velocity profile (parabolic for a Newtonian liquid) at each cross-section is a first approximation, but again this is a very rough model, which does not reflect the inherent interactions between the kinetics of the chemical reaction, the changes in viscosity of the reactive liquid, and the changes in temperature and velocity profiles along the reactor. 

Distributed Parameter Models Both non-Newtonian and shear-thinning properties of polymeric melts in particular, as well as the nonisothermal nature of the flow, significantly affect the melt extmsion process. Moreover, the non-Newtonian and nonisothermal effects interact and reinforce each other. We analyzed the non-Newtonian effect in the simple case of unidirectional parallel plate flow in Example 3.6 where Fig.E 3.6c plots flow rate versus the pressure gradient, illustrating the effect of the shear-dependent viscosity on flow rate using a Power Law model fluid. These curves are equivalent to screw characteristic curves with the cross-channel flow neglected. The Newtonian straight lines are replaced with S-shaped curves. 

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