scholarly journals Non-modal instability in plane Couette flow of a power-law fluid

2011 ◽  
Vol 676 ◽  
pp. 145-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. LIU ◽  
Q. S. LIU

In this paper, we study the linear stability of a plane Couette flow of a power-law fluid. The influence of shear-thinning effect on the stability is investigated using the classical eigenvalue analysis, the energy method and the non-modal stability theory. For the plane Couette flow, there is no stratification of viscosity. Thus, for the stability problem the stress tensor is anisotropic aligned with the strain rate perturbation. The results of the eigenvalue analysis and the energy method show that the shear-thinning effect is destabilizing. We focus on the effect of non-Newtonian viscosity on the transition from laminar flow towards turbulence in the framework of non-modal stability theory. Response to external excitations and initial conditions has been studied by examining the ε-pseudospectrum and the transient energy growth. For both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, it is found that there can be a rather large transient growth even though the linear operator of the Couette flow has no unstable eigenvalue. The results show that shear-thinning significantly increases the amplitude of response to external excitations and initial conditions.

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 094107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil T. M. Eldabe ◽  
M. F. El-Sabbagh ◽  
M. A.-S. El-Sayed(Hajjaj)

2014 ◽  
Vol 751 ◽  
pp. 184-215
Author(s):  
Liyan Yu ◽  
John Hinch

AbstractWe study the solitary wave solutions in a thin film of a power-law fluid coating a vertical fibre. Different behaviours are observed for shear-thickening and shear-thinning fluids. For shear-thickening fluids, the solitary waves are larger and faster when the reduced Bond number is smaller. For shear-thinning fluids, two branches of solutions exist for a certain range of the Bond number, where the solitary waves are larger and faster on one and smaller and slower on the other as the Bond number decreases. We carry out an asymptotic analysis for the large and fast-travelling solitary waves to explain how their speeds and amplitudes change with the Bond number. The analysis is then extended to examine the stability of the two branches of solutions for the shear-thinning fluids.


Author(s):  
Nariman Ashrafi

The effect of shear thinning on the stability of the Taylor-Couette flow (TCF) is explored for a Carreau-Bird fluid in the narrow-gap limit to simulate shear-dependent viscosity of lubricants. Here, a low-order dynamical system is obtained from the conservation of mass and momentum equations. In comparison with the Newtonian system, the present equations include additional nonlinear coupling in the velocity components through the viscosity. It is found that the critical Taylor number, corresponding to the loss of stability of the base (Couette) flow becomes lower s the shear-thinning effect increases. Similar to Newtonian fluids, there is an exchange of stability between the Couette and Taylor vortex flows. However, unlike the Newtonian model, the Taylor vortex cellular structure loses its stability in turn as the Taylor number reaches a second critical value. At this point, A Hopf bifurcation emerges, which exists only for shear-thinning fluids.


2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 727-736
Author(s):  
Li Yong ◽  
Wu Jing'an ◽  
Du Xingwen

Based on rheological test results, a new viscoelastic constitutive equation for unvulcanized rubber has been set up, with mathematical justification to describe its mechanical properties in relation to the yield stress and shear-thinning effect. In this model, every term or coefficient has an explicit physical meaning. The proposed model indicates that the yield stress is one of the main causes for the shear-thinning effect and reveals why some materials possess double-Newtonian regions with the shear viscosity in the first region higher than that in the second region. The yield stress makes the flow index of the power law fluid model vary widely, so that it needs to be eliminated from the power law fluid model. The model can also distinguish the true shear viscosity from the apparent shear viscosity effectively. The parameters of the equation are determined by the step fitting method, which is the precondition for quantitative analysis. However, the equation is a one-dimensional model, so further research is needed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 358 ◽  
pp. 357-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. NAGATA

The stability of nonlinear tertiary solutions in rotating plane Couette flow is examined numerically. It is found that the tertiary flows, which bifurcate from two-dimensional streamwise vortex flows, are stable within a certain range of the rotation rate when the Reynolds number is relatively small. The stability boundary is determined by perturbations which are subharmonic in the streamwise direction. As the Reynolds number is increased, the rotation range for the stable tertiary motions is destroyed gradually by oscillatory instabilities. We expect that the tertiary flow is overtaken by time-dependent motions for large Reynolds numbers. The results are compared with the recent experimental observation by Tillmark & Alfredsson (1996).


Author(s):  
Nariman Ashrafi ◽  
Habib Karimi Haghighi

The effects of nonlinearities on the stability are explored for shear thickening fluids in the narrow-gap limit of the Taylor-Couette flow. It is assumed that shear-thickening fluids behave exactly as opposite of shear thinning ones. A dynamical system is obtained from the conservation of mass and momentum equations which include nonlinear terms in velocity components due to the shear-dependent viscosity. It is found that the critical Taylor number, corresponding to the loss of stability of Couette flow becomes higher as the shear-thickening effects increases. Similar to the shear thinning case, the Taylor vortex structure emerges in the shear thickening flow, however they quickly disappear thus bringing the flow back to the purely azimuthal flow. Naturally, one expects shear thickening fluids to result in inverse dynamical behavior of shear thinning fluids. This study proves that this is not the case for every point on the bifurcation diagram.


1994 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
pp. 131-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Duck ◽  
Gordon Erlebacher ◽  
M. Yousuff Hussaini

The linear stability of compressible plane Couette flow is investigated. The appropriate basic velocity and temperature distributions are perturbed by a small-amplitude normal-mode disturbance. The full small-amplitude disturbance equations are solved numerically at finite Reynolds numbers, and the inviscid limit of these equations is then investigated in some detail. It is found that instabilities can occur, although the corresponding growth rates are often quite small; the stability characteristics of the flow are quite different from unbounded flows. The effects of viscosity are also calculated, asymptotically, and shown to have a stabilizing role in all the cases investigated. Exceptional regimes to the problem occur when the wave speed of the disturbances approaches the velocity of either of the walls, and these regimes are also analysed in some detail. Finally, the effect of imposing radiation-type boundary conditions on the upper (moving) wall (in place of impermeability) is investigated, and shown to yield results common to both bounded and unbounded flows.


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