We develop a viscoelastic version of the volume of fluid algorithm for tracking deformable interfaces. The code uses the piecewise linear interface calculation method to reconstruct the interface, the continuous surface force formulation to model interfacial tension forces and utilizes the semi-implicit Stokes solver (enabling computations at low Reynolds numbers). The algorithm is primarily designed to simulate the flow of superposed fluids and the drop in a flow problem in 2D shear flows of viscoelastic and/or Newtonian fluids. The code is validated against linear stability theory for the two-layer flow case and against experimental and other documented numerical investigations for the droplet-matrix case. / Ph. D.

In this work, we develop a method for solving viscoelastic fluid flows using the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the Oldroyd-B model. We solve the Navier-Stokes equations in skew-symmetric form using the mixed finite element method, and we solve the Oldroyd-B model using the discontinuous Galerkin method. The Crank-Nicolson scheme is used for the temporal discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations in order to achieve a second-order accuracy in time, while the optimal third-order total-variation diminishing Runge-Kutta scheme is used for the temporal discretization of the Oldroyd-B equation. The overall accuracy in time is therefore limited to second-order due to the Crank-Nicolson scheme; however, a third-order Runge-Kutta scheme is implemented for greater stability over lower order Runge-Kutta schemes. We test our numerical method using the 2D cavity flow benchmark problem and compare results generated with those found in literature while discussing the influence of mesh refinement on suppressing oscillations in the polymer stress. / Master of Science / Viscoelastic fluids are a type of non-Newtonian fluid of great importance to the study of fluid flows. Such fluids exhibit both viscous and elastic behaviors. We develop a numerical method to solve the partial differential equations governing viscoelastic fluid flows using various finite element methods. Our method is then validated using previous numerical results in literature.

The polymers are integral part of vast number of products used in day to day life due to their anomalous viscoelastic behaviour. The remarkable flow behaviour exhibited by the polymeric fluids including rod climbing, extrudate swell, tube-less siphon, viscoelastic jet, elastic recoil and sharkskin instability is attributed to the complex microstructures in the polymeric liquids that arise due to the interactions of long chain polymer molecules with each other and with the surrounding fluid particles. The significance of polymer in transportation, packaging, pharmaceutical, chemical, biomedical, textiles, food and polymer processing industries highlights the requirement to comprehend the complex rheology of polymeric fluids. First, we investigate the flow features exhibited by different shear thinning vis-coelastic fluids in rectangular cavities over a wide range of depth to width ratio. We have developed a viscoelastic flow solver in order to perform numerical simulations of highly elastic flow of viscoelastic fluids. In particular, we discuss the simulations of flows of constant viscosity Boger and shear thinning viscoelastic fluids in the complex flow problems using different constitutive equations. The effects of elasticity and inertia on the flow behaviour of two shear thinning vis-coelastic fluids modeled using Giesekus and linear PTT constitutive equations in rectangular cavities is studied. The size of the primary eddies and critical aspect ratio over which the corner eddies merge to yield a second primary eddy in deep cavities is discussed. We demonstrate that the flow in the shallow and deep cavities can be characterized using Weissenberg number, defined based on the shear rate, and Deborah number, specified based on the convective time scale, respectively. The study of flow in driven cavities is important in understanding of the mixing process during synthesis of blends and composites. Next, we study two phase polymeric flow in confined geometries. Nowadays, polymer processing industries prefer to develop newer polymer with the desired material properties mechanically by mixing and blending of different polymer components instead of chemically synthesizing fresh polymer. The microstructure of blends and emulsions following drop deformation, breakup and coalescence during mixing determines its macroscopic interfacial rheology. We developed a two phase viscoelastic flow solver using volume conserving sharp interface volume-of-fluid (VOF) method for studying the dynamics of single droplet subjected to the complex flow fields. We investigated the effects of drop and matrix viscoelasticity on the motion and deformation of a droplet suspended in a fully developed channel flow. The flow behaviour exhibited by Newtonian-Newtonian, viscoelastic-Newtonian, Newtonian-viscoelastic and viscoelastic-viscoelastic drop-matrix systems is presented. The difference in the drop dynamics due to presence of constant viscosity Boger fluid and shear thinning viscoelastic fluid is represented using FENE-CR and linear PTT constitutive equations, respectively. The presence of shear thinning viscoelastic fluid either in the drop or the matrix phase suppresses the drop deformation due to stronger influence of matrix viscoelasticity as compared to the drop elasticity. The shear thinning viscoelastic drop-matrix system further restricts the drop deformation and it displays non-monotonic de-formation. The constant viscosity Boger fluid droplet curbs the drop deformation and exhibits flow dynamics identical to the shear thinning viscoelastic droplet, thus indicating that the nature of the drop viscoelasticity has little influence on the flow behaviour. The matrix viscoelasticity due to Boger fluid increases drop deformation and displays non-monotonic deformation. The drop deformation is further enhanced in the case of Boger fluid in viscoelastic drop-matrix system. Interestingly, the pressure drop due to the presence of viscoelastic drop in a Newtonian matrix is lower than the single phase flow of Newtonian fluid. We also discuss the effects of inertia, surface tension, drop to matrix viscosity ratio and the drop size on these drop-matrix systems. Finally, we investigate the emulsion rheology by studying the motion of a droplet in the square lid driven cavity flow. The viscoelastic effects due to constant viscosity Boger fluid and shear thinning viscoelastic fluid are illustrated using FENECR and Giesekus rheological relations, respectively. The presence of viscoelasticity either in drop or matrix phase boosts the drop deformation with the drop viscoelasticity displaying intense deformation. The drop dynamics due to the droplet viscoelasticity is observed to be independent of the nature of vis-coelastic fluid. The shear thinning viscoelastic matrix has a stronger influence on the drop deformation and orientation compared to the Boger fluid matrix. The different blood components, cells and many materials of industrial importance are viscoelastic in nature. Thus, the present study has significant applications in medical diagnostics, drug delivery, manufacturing and processing industries, study of biological flows, pharmaceutical research and development of lab-on-chip devices.

L'ensemble des travaux présentés dans cette thèse porte sur la simulation numérique des procédés de coextrusion par un modèle d'écoulement stratifié basé sur la méthode du champ de phase. L'avantage technologique offert par la coextrusion réside dans la possibilité de combiner des matériaux ayant des propriétés physiques très spécifiques dans un produit unique. Toutefois, les différences rhéologiques entre les divers matériaux sont elles-mêmes responsables d'un phénomène de distorsion de l'interface séparant deux couches adjacents. Les données expérimentales en coextrusion bicouches montrent que, en raison des différences de viscosité et d'élasticité entre le deux composants, le fluide le moins visqueux encapsule le fluide plus visqueux et le passage d'une configuration stratifiée à une encapsulée comporte une perte de qualité du produit final. Ce phénomène, dit d'enrobage représente donc un sujet de très grande actualité dans la recherche industrielle et la compréhension des mécanismes le générant sera utile pour l'amélioration des procédés de mise en forme des polymères. La nature intrinsèquement tridimensionnelle de l'enrobage a requis le développement d'un code pour la simulation tridimensionnelle basée sur la méthode des volumes finis pour la discrétisation des équations de Navier-Stokes pour les écoulement incompressibles et isothermes couplées avec une loi constitutive différentielle non linéaire (modèles de Giesekus ou PTT). La présence de deux fluides est prise en compte par une équation scalaire supplémentaire décrivant l'évolution de l'interface sur un maillage fixe. Cette équation offre une interprétation physique précise car elle est dérivée de la thermodynamique de séparation de phase d'un fluide binaire. Le modèle proposé est validé par confrontation avec les résultats expérimentaux et numériques disponibles dans la littérature. Une étude numérique de la coextrusion en filière rectangulaire est effectuée afin de mettre en évidence les facteurs influençant l'enrobage et la nature de son origine / The objective of the present work is the analysis of coextrusion processes by numerical simulation based on phase-field modeling of stratified confined flows. The study of such flows is motivated by the presence of complex phenomena appearing in a vast range of industrial operational coextrusion conditions due to the differences in the components properties and their viscoelastic behavior. The basic idea in coextrusion is to combine several layers of different polymers in a common die, to form a unique product with enhanced properties. However, the existence of fluid stratification in the die is responsible of a severe distortion of the interface between the fluid components, causing a loss of efficiency for the whole process. Experimental data show that, even if a stratified initial configuration is imposed at the die entry, one fluid eventually encapsulates the other in most of the flow condition analyzed. The intrinsically three-dimensional nature of this phenomenon has required the development of a three-dimensional flow solver based on the finite volume discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible and isothermal flow, together with differential nonlinear constitutive equations (Giesekus, PTT models). The presence of two fluid phases is taken into account by a phase field model that implies the solution of an additional scalar equation to describe the evolution of the interface on a fixed Eulerian grid. This model, unlike others of the same family, has a thermodynamic derivation and can be physically interpreted. The proposed method is tested against experimental data and solutions already available in literature and a study of coextrusion in rectangular dies is performed to identify the dependence of encapsulation on the flow parameters

In this paper, the complete double layer boundary integral equation formulation for Stokes flows is extended to viscoelastic fluids to solve the mobility problem for a system of particles, where the non-linearity is handled by particular solutions of the Stokes inhomogeneous equation. Some techniques of the meshless method are employed and a point-wise solver is used to solve the viscoelastic constitutive equation. Hence volume meshing is avoided. The method is tested against the numerical solution for a sphere settling in the Odroyd-B fluid and some results on a prolate motion in shear flow of the Oldroyd-B fluid are reported and compared with some theoretical and experimental results. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Most materials used in many industries such as plastic, food, pharmaceuticals, electronics, dye, etc. exhibit viscoelastic properties under their processing or flow conditions. Due to the elasticity of such materials, deformation-stress in addition to their hydrodynamic behavior differ from simple Newtonian fluids in many important respects. Rod climbing, siphoning, secondary flows are all common examples to how a viscoelastic fluid can exhibit quite distinctive flow behavior than a Newtonian fluid would do under similar flow conditions. In industrial processes involving flow of viscoelastic materials, understanding complexities associated with the viscoelasticity can lead to both design and development of hydrodynamically efficient processes and to improved quality of the final products. In the present study, the main objective is to develop two dimensional finite volume based convergent numerical algorithm for the simulation of viscoelastic flows using nonlinear differential constitutive equations. The constitutive models adopted are Oldroyd-B, Phan-Thien Tanner (PTT) and White-Metzner models. The semi-implicit method for the pressure-linked equation (SIMPLE) and SIMPLE consistent (SIMPLEC) are used to solve the coupled continuity, momentum and constitutive equations. Extra stress terms in momentum equations are solved by decoupled strategy. The schemes to approximate the convection terms in the momentum equations adopted are first order upwind, hybrid, power-law second order central differences and finally third order quadratic upstream interpolation for convective kinematics QUICK schemes. Upwind and QUICK schemes are used in the constitutive equations for the stresses. Non-uniform collocated grid system is employed to discretize flow geometries. As test cases, three problems are considered: flow in entrance of planar channel, stick-slip and lid driven cavity flow. Detailed investigation of the flow field is carried out in terms of velocity and stress fields. It is found that range of convergence of numerical solutions is very sensitive to the type of rheological model, Reynolds number and polymer contribution of viscosity as well as mesh refinement. Use of White-Metzner constitutive differential model gives smooth, non oscillatory solutions to much higher Weissenberg number than Oldroyd-B and PTT models. Differences between the behavior of Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids for lid-driven cavity, such as the normal stress effects and secondary eddy formations, are highlighted. In addition to the viscoelastic flow simulations, steady incompressible Newtonian flow of lid-driven cavity flow at high Reynolds numbers is also solved by finite volume approach. Effect of the solution procedure of pressure correction equation cycles, which is called inner loop, on the solution is discussesed in detail and results are compared with the available data in literature.

No / Pressure variation during the coextrusion of two low density polyethylene melts was investigated. Melt streams were delivered to a die from two separate extruders to converge in a 30 degrees degrees geometry to form a two layer extrudate. Melt flow in the confluent region and die land to the die exit was observed through side windows of a visualisation cell. Stream velocity ratio was varied by control of extruder screw speeds. Layer thickness ratios producing wave type interfacial instability were quantified for each melt coextruded on itself and for the combined melts. Stream pressures and screw speeds were monitored and analysed. Wave type interfacial instability was present during the processing of the melts at specific, repeatable, stream layer ratios. Increased melt elasticity appeared to promote this type of instability. Analysis of process data indicates little correlation between perturbations in extruder screw speeds and stream pressures. The analysis did however show covariance between the individual stream pressure perturbations. Interestingly there was significant correlation even when interfacial instability was not present. We conclude that naturally occurring variation in extruder screw speeds do not perturb stream pressures and, more importantly, natural perturbations in stream pressures do not promote interfacial instability.

In a first part, we study numerical schemes using the finite-element method to discretize the Oldroyd-B system of equations, modelling a viscoelastic fluid under no flow boundary condition in a 2- or 3- dimensional bounded domain. The goal is to get schemes which are stable in the sense that they dissipate a free-energy, mimicking that way thermodynamical properties of dissipation similar to those actually identified for smooth solutions of the continuous model. This study adds to numerous previous ones about the instabilities observed in the numerical simulations of viscoelastic fluids (in particular those known as High Weissenberg Number Problems). To our knowledge, this is the first study that rigorously considers the numerical stability in the sense of an energy dissipation for Galerkin discretizations. In a second part, we adapt and use ideas of a numerical method initially developped in the works of Y. Maday, A.T. Patera et al., the reduced-basis method, in order to efficiently simulate some multiscale models. The principle is to numerically approximate each element of a parametrized family of complicate objects in a Hilbert space through the closest linear combination within the best linear subspace spanned by a few elementswell chosen inside the same parametrized family. We apply this principle to numerical problems linked : to the numerical homogenization of second-order elliptic equations, with two-scale oscillating diffusion coefficients, then ; to the propagation of uncertainty (computations of the mean and the variance) in an elliptic problem with stochastic coefficients (a bounded stochastic field in a boundary condition of third type), last ; to the Monte-Carlo computation of the expectations of numerous parametrized random variables, in particular functionals of parametrized Itô stochastic processes close to what is encountered in micro-macro models of polymeric fluids, with a control variate to reduce its variance. In each application, the goal of the reduced-basis approach is to speed up the computations without any loss of precision

Diversas aplicações industriais utilizam escoamentos de fluidos viscoelásticos, e em muitos casos é necessário saber se os escoamentos propagam-se no estado laminar ou no turbulento. Embora a hidrodinâmica de fluidos viscoelásticos seja fortemente afetada pelo balanço entre forças inerciais e elásticas no escoamento, o efeito da elasticidade sobre a estabilidade de escoamentos inerciais não foi completamente estabelecido. Neste trabalho, estuda-se o que ocorre durante a transição laminar-turbulenta, investigando a convecção de ondas de Tollmien-Schlichting para o escoamento incompressível, para um fluido viscoelástico, entre placas paralelas, utilizando a equação constitutiva Giesekus. Para isto, adotou-se a simulação numérica direta para verificar a estabilidade dos escoamentos à perturbações não estacionárias deste fluido. Experimentos computacionais para verificação do código foram realizados. Com os resultados numéricos obtidos, foi possível verificar e analizar a estabilidade de escoamentos utilizando-se o modelo não newtoniano Giesekus. / Several industrial applications use viscoelastic fluid flows, and it is necessary to know if the flows propagate in the laminar or turbulent state. Although the hydrodynamics of viscoelastic fluids is strongly affected by the balance between inertial and elastic forces in the flow, the effect of elasticity on the stability of inertial flows has not been completely established. In this work we study what happens during the laminar-turbulent transition, investigating the convection of Tollmien-Schlichting waves for the incompressible flow, for a viscoelastic fluid, between parallel plates, using the constitutive equation Giesekus. For this, the direct numerical simulation was used to verify the stability of the flows to the non-stationary perturbations of this fluid. Computational experiments to verify the code were performed. With the numerical results obtained, it was possible to verify and analyze the stability of flows modelled by Giesekus non-newtonian model.

Diversas aplicações industriais utilizam escoamentos de fluidos viscoelásticos, e em muitos casos é necessário saber se os escoamentos propagam-se no estado laminar ou no turbulento. Embora a hidrodinâmica de fluidos viscoelásticos seja fortemente afetada pelo balanço entre forças inerciais e elásticas no escoamento, o efeito da elasticidade sobre a estabilidade de escoamentos inerciais não foi completamente estabelecido. Neste trabalho, estuda-se o que ocorre durante a transição laminar-turbulenta, investigando a convecção de ondas de Tollmien-Schlichting para o escoamento incompressível, para um fluido viscoelástico, entre placas paralelas, utilizando a equação constitutiva Giesekus. Para isto, adotou-se a simulação numérica direta para verificar a estabilidade dos escoamentos à perturbações não estacionárias deste fluido. Experimentos computacionais para verificação do código foram realizados. Com os resultados numéricos obtidos, foi possível verificar e analizar a estabilidade de escoamentos utilizando-se o modelo não newtoniano Giesekus. / Several industrial applications use viscoelastic fluid flows, and it is necessary to know if the flows propagate in the laminar or turbulent state. Although the hydrodynamics of viscoelastic fluids is strongly affected by the balance between inertial and elastic forces in the flow, the effect of elasticity on the stability of inertial flows has not been completely established. In this work we study what happens during the laminar-turbulent transition, investigating the convection of Tollmien-Schlichting waves for the incompressible flow, for a viscoelastic fluid, between parallel plates, using the constitutive equation Giesekus. For this, the direct numerical simulation was used to verify the stability of the flows to the non-stationary perturbations of this fluid. Computational experiments to verify the code were performed. With the numerical results obtained, it was possible to verify and analyze the stability of flows modelled by Giesekus non-newtonian model.