Viscoelasticity differential model

Viscoelasticity has already been introduced in Chapter 1, based on linear viscoelasticity. However, in polymer processing large deformations are imposed on the material, requiring the use of non-linear viscoelastic models. There are two types of general non-linear viscoelastic flow models the differential type and the integral type. 

Differential Viscoelastic Models. Differential models have traditionally been the choice for describing the viscoelastic behavior of polymers when simulating complex flow systems. Many differential viscoelastic models can be described by the general form... 

For the viscoelastic stress, we can use differential or integral constitutive models (see Chapter 2). For differential models we have the general form... 

Mathematical Analysis of Differential Models for Viscoelastic Fluids... 

The complexity of viscoelastic flows requires a multidisciplinary approach including modelling, computational and mathematical aspects. In this chapter we will restrict ourselves to the latter and briefly review the state of the art on the most basic mathematical questions that can be raised on differential models of viscoelastic fluids. We want to emphasize the intimate connections that exist between the theoretical issues discussed here and the modelling of complex polymer flows (see Part III) and their numerical simulations (see Chapter II.3). 

Most differential models of viscoelastic fluids reduce to (1), with an appropriate choice of the functions /3,. Here are some examples, where for simplicity we only consider the case of one relaxation time, i.e. n = 1, /3j = /3, Xj = X, and r/i = r/p. 

In the context of viscoelastic fluid flows, numerical analysis has been performed for differential models only, and for the following types of approximations finite element methods for steady flows, finite differences in time and finite element methods in space for unsteady flows. Finite element methods are the most popular ones in numerical simulations, but some other methods like finite differences, finite volume approximations, or spectral methods are also used. 

Mathematical and numerical analyses of differential models for viscoelastic fluid flows are highly challenging domains, which stiU need a lot of effort. However, significant progress heis been made during the last decade, and mathematical results have shown to be quite useful for the modelling. 

C. Guillope and J.-C. Saut, Mathematical analysis of differential models with internal variables for viscoelastic fluids, in preparation. 

C. Guillope and J.-C. Saut, Mathematical problems arising in differential models for viscoelastic fluids, in Mathematical Topics in Fluid Mechanics, J.F. Rodrigues and A. Sequeira (eds.), Longman Scientific and Technical, Pitman, 1992, 64-92. 

If a discrete inf-sup inequality is satisfied by the velocity and pressure elements, then the discrete problem has a unique solution converging to the solution of the continuous one (see equation (27) of the chapter Mathematical Analysis of Differential models for Viscoelastic Fluids). This condition is referred to as the Brezzi-Babuska condition and can be checked element by element. Finite element methods for viscous flows are now well established and pairs of elements satisfying the Brezzi-Babuska condition are referenced (see [6]). Two strategies are used to compute the numerical solution of these equations involving velocity and pressure. 

Differential models obtained by replacing the ordinary time derivative in Eq. 10.21 by one that can describe large, rapid deformations are able to describe some nonlinear viscoelastic phenomena, but only qualitatively. To improve on such models, it is necessary to introduce additional nonlinearity into the equation. In the popular Phan-Thien/Tanner model, the Gordon-Schowalter convected derivative is used, and nonlinearity is introduced by multiplying the stress term by a function of the trace of the stress tensor. The Giesekus and Leonov models are other examples of nonlinear differential models. All of the models mentioned above are described in the monograph by Larson [7j. 

The basis for the gmeral mathematical description of flow conditions are the conservation equations as the eontinuity equation, mommtum equation and energy equation and a rheological material law. The rheologieal material law or constitutive equation specifies the relation between the velocity field and the acting stresses. The known viscoelastic material models can be classified in differential and integral models. 

The viscoelastic component of the extra-stress tensor can be computed with different differential viscoelastic material models. One model employed in this study is the Maxwell-model, which is defined as follows ... 

Depending on the method of analysis, constitutive models of viscoelastic fluids can be formulated as differential or integral equations. 

The practical and computational complications encountered in obtaining solutions for the described differential or integral viscoelastic equations sometimes justifies using a heuristic approach based on an equation proposed by Criminale, Ericksen and Filbey (1958) to model polymer flows. Similar to the generalized Newtonian approach, under steady-state viscometric flow conditions components of the extra stress in the (CEF) model are given a.s explicit relationships in terms of the components of the rate of deformation tensor. However, in the (CEF) model stress components are corrected to take into account the influence of normal stresses in non-Newtonian flow behaviour. For example, in a two-dimensional planar coordinate system the components of extra stress in the (CEF) model are written as... 

In general, the utilization of integral models requires more elaborate algorithms than the differential viscoelastic equations. Furthermore, models based on the differential constitutive equations can be more readily applied under general concUtions. 

In the following section representative examples of the development of finite element schemes for most commonly used differential and integral viscoelastic models are described. 

The first finite element schemes for differential viscoelastic models that yielded numerically stable results for non-zero Weissenberg numbers appeared less than two decades ago. These schemes were later improved and shown that for some benchmark viscoelastic problems, such as flow through a two-dimensional section with an abrupt contraction (usually a width reduction of four to one), they can generate simulations that were qualitatively comparable with the experimental evidence. A notable example was the coupled scheme developed by Marchal and Crochet (1987) for the solution of Maxwell and Oldroyd constitutive equations. To achieve stability they used element subdivision for the stress approximations and applied inconsistent streamline upwinding to the stress terms in the discretized equations. In another attempt, Luo and Tanner (1989) developed a typical decoupled scheme that started with the solution of the constitutive equation for a fixed-flow field (e.g. obtained by initially assuming non-elastic fluid behaviour). The extra stress found at this step was subsequently inserted into the equation of motion as a pseudo-body force and the flow field was updated. These authors also used inconsistent streamline upwinding to maintain the stability of the scheme. 

The following type of differential equation is encountered in the text, for example, in the analysis of the models for viscoelastic behaviour ... 

The Maxwell model is also called Maxwell fluid model. Briefly it is a mechanical model for simple linear viscoelastic behavior that consists of a spring of Young s modulus (E) in series with a dashpot of coefficient of viscosity (ji). It is an isostress model (with stress 5), the strain (f) being the sum of the individual strains in the spring and dashpot. This leads to a differential representation of linear viscoelasticity as d /dt = (l/E)d5/dt + (5/Jl)-This model is useful for the representation of stress relaxation and creep with Newtonian flow analysis. 

Note 7 There are definitions of linear viscoelasticity which use integral equations instead of the differential equation in Definition 5.2. (See, for example, [11].) Such definitions have certain advantages regarding their mathematical generality. However, the approach in the present document, in terms of differential equations, has the advantage that the definitions and descriptions of various viscoelastic properties can be made in terms of commonly used mechano-mathematical models (e.g. the Maxwell and Voigt-Kelvin models). 

In the Maxwell model for viscoelastic deformation, it is assumed that the total strain is equal to the elastic strain plus the viscous strain. This is expressed in the two following differential equations from Equations 14.2 and 14.3. 

In the various formulations of the mathematical theory of linear viscoelasticity, one should differentiate clearly the measurable and non-measurable fimctions, especially when it comes to modelling apart from the material functions quoted above, one may also define non measurable viscoelastic functions which Eu-e pure mathematical objects, such as the distribution of relaxation times, the distribution of retardation times, and tiie memory function. These mathematical tools may prove to be useful in some situations for example, a discrete distribution of relaxation times is easy to handle numerically when working with constitutive equations of the difierential type, but one has to keep in mind that the relaxation times derived numerically by optimization methods have no direct physical meaning. Furthermore, the use of the distribution of relaxation times is useless and costs precision when one wishes simply to go back and forth from the time domain to the frequency domain. This warning is important, given the large use (and sometimes overuse) of these distribution functions. 

This differential form can be integrated to give the integral form of the model which can also be derived from the Boltzman superposition principle using the concept of fading memory of viscoelastic liquids ... 

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