Numerical Modelling of Viscoelastic Cavity Driven Flow Using Finite Difference Simulations

Abstract

A study of the unsteady flow of viscoelastic liquids contained in an cavity driven by a moving wall has been undertaken as a first step toward understanding heat and mass transport in polymer processing equipment. The material was represented by the constitutive equation for a upper convected Criminale-Ericson-Filbey (CEF) model. Solution to the vorticity equation for various moving walls and different aspect ratios were obtained numerically. The solutions were found to be stable and convergent for limited value of Weissenberg numbers. Despite this fact, some new results, which are governed by inertia, elasticity and aspect ratio, were obtained and this has been documented first time. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.