The Falkner–Skan Wedge Flows of Power-Law Fluids Embedded in a Porous Medium

The non-Darcy flow characteristics of power-law non-Newtonian fluids past a wedge embedded in a porous medium have been studied. The governing equations are converted to a system of first-order ordinary differential equations by means of a local similarity transformation and have been solved numerically, for a number of parameter combinations of wedge angle parameter m, power-law index of the non-Newtonian fluids n, first-order resistance A and second-order resistance B, using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme with the Newton–Raphson shooting method. Velocity and shear stress at the body surface are presented for a range of the above parameters. These results are also compared with the corresponding flow problems for a Newtonian fluid. Numerical results show that for the case of the constant wedge angle and material parameter A, the local skin friction coefficient is lower for a dilatant fluid as compared with the pseudo-plastic or Newtonian fluids.     

Similarity solutions of three-dimensional boundary layer equations of non-Newtonian fluids

An analysis of possibility of finding similaarity solutions to the three-dimensional, steady, incompressible, boundary layer equations in rectangular co-ordinates for a power law fluid has been discussed in the literature. In the present paper a similarity analysis is made of the steady, three-dimensional, incompressible, Iaminar, boundary layer flow of all time independent non-Newtonian fluids. The important conclusion drawn from this analysis in that for a non-Newtonian fiuid of any model, a similarity solution exists for the fluid for which shearing stress and rate of strain can be related by an arbitrary continuous function.     

Natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluid over axisymmetric and two-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shape in fluid-saturated porous media

Numerical analysis of the free convection coupled heat and mass transfer is presented for non-Newtonian power-law fluids with the yield stress flowing over a two-dimensional or axisymmetric body of an arbitrary shape in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The governing boundary layer equations and boundary conditions are cast into a dimensionless form by the similarity transformation. The resulting system of equations is solved by a finite difference method. The parameters studied are the rheological constants, the buoyancy ratio, and the Lewis number. Representative velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are presented and discussed. It is found that the results depend strongly on the values of the yield stress parameter and the power-law index of the non-Newtonian fluid.     

Natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluid over axisymmetric and two-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shape in fluid-saturated porous media

Numerical analysis of the free convection coupled heat and mass transfer is presented for non-Newtonian power-law fluids with the yield stress flowing over a two-dimensional or axisymmetric body of an arbitrary shape in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The governing boundary layer equations and boundary conditions are cast into a dimensionless form by the similarity transformation. The resulting system of equations is solved by a finite difference method. The parameters studied are the rheological constants, the buoyancy ratio, and the Lewis number. Representative velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are presented and discussed. It is found that the results depend strongly on the values of the yield stress parameter and the power-law index of the non-Newtonian fluid.     

Self-similar solutions in the problem of generalized vortex diffusion

The analysis of the group properties and the search for self-similar solutions in problems of mathematical physics and continuum mechanics have always been of interest, both theoretical and applied [1–3]. Self-similar solutions of parabolic problems that depend only on a variable of the type η = x/√t are classical fundamental solutions of the one-dimensional linear and nonlinear heat conduction equations describing numerous physical phenomena with initial discontinuities on the boundary [4]. In this study, the term “generalized vortex diffusion” is introduced in order to unify the different processes in mechanics modeled by these problems. Here, vortex layer diffusion and vortex filament diffusion in a Newtonian fluid [5] can serve as classical hydrodynamic examples. The cases of self-similarity with respect to the variable η are classified for fairly general kinematics of the processes, physical nonlinearities of the medium, and types of boundary conditions at the discontinuity points. The general initial and boundary value problem thus formulated is analyzed in detail for Newtonian and non-Newtonian power-law fluids and a medium similar in behavior to a rigid-ideally plastic body. New self-similar solutions for the shear stress are derived.     

Boundary layer flow of Reiner-Philippoff fluids

An analysis is made of the boundary layer flow of Reiner-Philippoff fluids. This work is an extension of a previous analysis by Hansen and Na [A.G. Hansen and T.Y. Na, Similarity solutions of laminar, incompressible boundary layer equations of non-Newtonian fluids. ASME 67-WA/FE-2, presented at the ASME Winter Annual Meeting, November (1967)], where the existence of similar solutions of the boundary layer equations of a class of general non-Newtonian fluids were investigated. It was found that similarity solutions exist only for the case of flow over a 90° wedge and, being similar, the solution of the non-linear boundary layer equations can be reduced to the solution of non-linear ordinary differential equations. In this paper, the more general case of the boundary layer flow of Reiner-Philippoff fluids over other body shapes will be considered. A general formulation is given which makes it possible to solve the boundary layer equations for any body shape by a finite-difference technique. As an example, the classical solution of the boundary layer flow over a flat plate, known as the Blasius solution, will be considered. Numerical results are generated for a series of values of the parameters in the Reiner-Philippoff model.     

Dynamics of stochastic non-Newtonian fluids driven by fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter H ∈ （1/4,1/2）

A two-dimensional (2D) stochastic incompressible non-Newtonian fluid driven by the genuine cylindrical fractional Brownian motion (FBM) is studied with the Hurst parameter $H \in \left( {\tfrac{1} {4},\tfrac{1} {2}} \right)$ under the Dirichlet boundary condition. The existence and regularity of the stochastic convolution corresponding to the stochastic non-Newtonian fluids are obtained by the estimate on the spectrum of the spatial differential operator and the identity of the infinite double series in the analytic number theory. The existence of the mild solution and the random attractor of a random dynamical system are then obtained for the stochastic non-Newtonian systems with $H \in \left( {\tfrac{1} {2},1} \right)$ without any additional restriction on the parameter H.     

An iterative method for solution of a boundary value problem in non-newtonian fluid flow

The boundary value problem

arises in boundary layer equations for the steady flow of a power-law fluid over an impermeable, semi-infinite flat plane. The parameter μ is equal to $\text{1}\text{n}$ where n is the exponent of the strain rate in the expression for the shear stress. We develop and prove the convergence of an iterative method for the solution of the given boundary value broblem for dilatant fluids (0 < μ <1). The iterative method can be easily implemented computationally. An added feature of our technique is that it accurately yields y(0), an important parameter which is related to the drag at the plate. The iterative method works well computationally not only for 0 < μ < 1 but for the range 1 < μ < 4 (pseudoplastic fluids with 1 > n > $\text{1}\text{4}$), as well.     

Exact solutions for extended boundary value problems

Summary Extended definition of a stress tensor for a non-Newtonian fluid brings in higher degree derivatives with coefficients as powers of non-Newtonian parameter in the differential equations of motion. Yet, these differential equations need to be solved subject to the same boundary conditions as in the corresponding Newtonian flow problem. A technique is developed to obtain exact solutions for such an extended boundary value problem. Some flow problems forWalters liquidB are considered.     

Dual solutions of Casson fluid flows over a power-law stretching sheet

A steady boundary layer flow of a non-Newtonian Casson fluid over a power-law stretching sheet is investigated. A self-similar form of the governing equation is obtained, and numerical solutions are found for various values of the governing parameters. The solutions depend on the fluid material parameter. Dual solutions are obtained for some particular range of these parameters. The fluid velocity is found to decrease as the power-law stretching parameter β in the rheological Casson equation increases. At large values of β, the skin friction coefficient and the velocity profile across the boundary layer for the Casson fluid tend to those for the Newtonian fluid.     

Simulations of bubble growth and interaction in high viscous fluids using the lattice Boltzmann method

Phenomena of growth, coalescence and breakdown of bubbles within high viscous fluids are of great interest in the fluid dynamics of multiphase fluids because of their industrial relevance, e.g. in polymer, metal alloy and food processing fields. The dynamics of multiple bubble growth in hot viscous fluids is a complex issue governed by pressure forces, vapour diffusion, surface tension and viscous forces. Effects of water evaporation from the mixture surface are responsible for phenomena like glass transition, viscous increase and dough solidification. This article presents Lattice Boltzmann simulations of nucleating bubbles with large density ratio, that grow and interact in a hot high-viscous fluid. The work focuses on the first phases of the bubble expansion, neglecting the effects of evaporation. The simulations are performed using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). The Free Surface method is used to reduce a liquid/gas two-phase flow to a single-phase flow. The interface layer between gas and fluid is tracked using the volume of fluid (VOF) method. To avoid numerical instabilities due to the high viscosity ($\eta =100Pas$), the problem is scaled from physical to LB-units through non-dimensional quantities. The bubbles are initially punched randomly into the domain with a dimension comparable with the dimension of nucleation and are allowed to grow under an internal over-pressure. The simulated final structure of the bubbles is compared with images of a pure starch fluid, extruded under same conditions. It is shown as the final bubble distribution, matrix dimension and bubble diameters in the simulation are in good agreement with the real final conformation.     

Viscoelastic sink flow in a wedge for the UCM and Oldroyd-B models

The steady planar sink flow through wedges of angle π/α with α≥1/2 of the upper convected Maxwell (UCM) and Oldroyd-B fluids is considered. The local asymptotic structure near the wedge apex is shown to comprise an outer core flow region together with thin elastic boundary layers at the wedge walls. A class of similarity solutions is described for the outer core flow in which the streamlines are straight lines giving stress and velocity singularities of O(r⁻²) and O(r⁻¹), respectively, where r1 is the distance from the wedge apex. These solutions are matched to wall boundary layer equations which recover viscometric behaviour and are subsequently also solved using a similarity solution. The boundary layers are shown to be of thickness O(r²), their size being independent of the wedge angle. The parametric solution of this structure is determined numerically in terms of the volume flux Q and the pressure coefficient p₀, both of which are assumed furnished by the flow away from the wedge apex in the r=O(1) region. The solutions as described are sufficiently general to accommodate a wide variety of external flows from the far-field r=O(1) region. Recirculating regions are implicitly assumed to be absent.