Viscoelastic fluid flow in a prismatic channel of square cross-section with reference to the example of rubber mixtures

Abstract

Flow in a prismatic channel of the melts of the SKI-3 and SKMS30-ARKM-15-based rubber mixtures widely used in the chemical industry is numerically investigated. The description of these media, which exhibit viscoelstic properties when being processed, requires a particular approach that would take their rheological behavior and various anomalies into account. Amidst many rheological equations governing flows of rheologically complex media the equation that would ensure not only the good reliability of the results but also the feasibility in its practical use should be selected. The special features of viscoelastic fluids clearly manifest themselves in the flow in a prismatic channel of a noncircular cross-section. Secondary flows characteristic of the viscoelastic flows in such channels force the fluid particles to move in spiral trajectories along the channel. In the numerical calculations the Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT) rheological model is used; its parameters are obtained on the basis of experimental data. The calculations are performed using the COSMOL Multiphysics software complex. the method of solution was tested against the analytical solution of the PTT fluid flow in a round tube which was compared with the numerical solution.