22nd Canadian Congress of Applied Mechanics 22ème congrès canadien de mécanique appliquée

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

May 31st to June 4th, 2009

Numerical and Experimental Studies on Polymeric Liquids

A. Guaily1, E. Cheluget 2, K. Lee3, M. Epstein4
1
University of Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Canada, agguaily@ucalgary.ca
2
NOVA Chemicals Corp., AB T2E 7K7 Canada, cheluge@novachem.com
3
NOVA Chemicals Corp., AB T2E 7K7 Canada, leekar@novachem.com
4
University of Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Canada, mepstein@ucalgary.ca

1. Abstract experimentally measured viscosity curve is compared

with the simulation results.
This paper presents a numerical and experimental study
for the flow of polymer melt in a Multi-Pass Rheometer 2.2 Governing Equations
(MPR). The Giesekus model is used to model the
polymer viscoelasticity while the modified Tait The conservation of mass, momentum, the one-mode
equation is used to describe the polymer Giesekus model constitutive equation [1] and the Tait
compressibility. The Least-Squares finite element equation of state [2] can be cast as a purely hyperbolic
method (LSFEM) is then used to solve the governing system of equations (both Ax and Ay have a real set of
system of equations. Despite using a one-mode
Giesekus model, the predicted shear-rate dependent eigenvalues) in matrix form as:
viscosity curve is in good agreement with the ∂q ∂q ∂q (1)
At + Ax + Ay =r
experimental results. ∂t ∂x ∂y
where q = [ u v p S Q T
T
E] , At is the
2. Introduction
identity matrix,
T
Fluids with complex microstructures such as polymers,  S Q T E ,
r = 0 0 0 − − − − 
suspensions, and granular materials abound in daily life  We We We We 
and in many industrial processes in the chemical, food, 
u 0 (γ p ) γ
−
1
− (γ p )
−
1
γ 0 0 0


and oil industries. The mathematical models for flow in  −
1 
 0 u 0 0 − (γ p ) γ 0 0
such fluids are more complex than those of traditional  γp 0 u 0 0 0 0
Newtonian fluid dynamics [1]. In this paper we present  
  1  
the results of a numerical and experimental Ax =  −2  S +  0 0 u 0 0 0
  Re W e  
characterization of a polymeric liquid, an important  
 1 
class of non-Newtonian fluids.  −Q − S +  0 0 u 0 0
  Re W e  
 
 0 −2Q 0 0 0 u 0
2.1 Experimental 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 u 

The MPR is a controlled-strain capillary flow ,

rheometer in which the test fluid is vertically displaced  −
1

 v 0 0 0 − (γ p ) γ 0 0
back and forth in multiple passes. Unlike conventional  −
1
−
1 
Instron-type capillary rheometers, the MPR test cell is  0 v (γ p ) γ 0 0 − (γ p ) γ 0 0
 0 γp v 0 0 0 0
fully enclosed and tests can be performed at high  
 −2Q 0 0 v 0 0 0
temperature and pressure using a small amount of Ay =  
sample. The main MPR operating variables are the − T +
1 
−Q 0
   0 0 v 0
Re W e  
piston displacement, temperature and static pressure.  
  1  
The test fluid is displaced through a series of capillaries  0 −2 T +  0 0 0 v 0
  Re W e  
at a given shear rate (set by the piston speed) and the
 0 0 0 0 0 0 v 
differential pressure (dP) across each capillary is 
measured. The temperature and pressure are regulated
and monitored by means of thermocouples and pressure In the above expressions, ( u , v ) are the velocity
transducers mounted in cylindrical instrumentation components, p is the pressure, and ( S , Q , T , E ) are
modules between each capillary [3]. the axial, shear, normal, and tangential stress
The viscosity is determined from the shear stress
respectively while We is the Weissenberg number and
calculated from the measured dP, and the shear rate set
by the piston displacement. In this paper, the flow in Re is the Reynolds number.
one of the capillaries is modeled, and the

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 equations (PDEs), the number of boundary conditions
2.3 Least-Squares Finite Element Formulation to be imposed on a boundary is determined by the
theory of characteristics. The no-slip boundary
The unsteady term is descritized using a fully implicit condition is imposed over the walls. Fig. 1 (top) shows
backward Euler scheme while the nonlinear system the geometry and the grid used in the simulation, a
given in equation (1) is solved iteratively using clustered grid is used to capture the high stress and
Newton-Raphson’s method, by setting: qn+1 = qn +∆q , velocity gradients. Also shown in Fig.1 (middle) the
neglecting the higher order terms. Equation (1) can be resulting axial velocity isocontours, as expected the
velocity reaches its maximum inside the capillary
rewritten as: L∆ q n +1 = − f
without any circulation in/out of the capillary zone as
where can be seen in streamlines plot in Fig.1 (bottom). The
∂ ∂ 1 shear-rate dependant viscosity is plotted in Fig.2 for
L = A xn + A yn + ( I + A n )
∂x ∂y ∆t both the experimental and numerical simulations. As
∂q n ∂q n seen in the figure the numerical results agree well with
n
f = (A x + A yn + f new t ) the experimental results despite using a one-mode
∂x ∂y
Giesekus model.
Defining the residual vector as
n +1
ℜ = L ∆q +f
The least-squares functional is given by:
1
I ( ∆ q n +1 ) =
2 ∫∫
Ω
(ℜ ) T ( ℜ ) d Ω (2)

Minimizing (2) results in the system of equations:

[ K ]{∆ q} = − { R} (3)
where
Kije = ∫∫ ( LNi )T ( LN j )dΩe ; rie = ∫∫ ( LNi )T fdΩ
Ωe Ωe Fig. 2: Viscosity vs. shear rate.
is evaluated using Gauss-Legendre quadrature. N is
the shape function. 4. Conclusions

3. Numerical Results and Discussions Numerical and experimental investigation of

For this specific polymer melt, the Tait equation
exponent is γ =3.09, the Giesekus model parameters
are: the mobility factor α G =0.009; the relaxation time
is λ = 0.01 [s] and the flow parameters are Re =0.0013;
We =0.0333 based on a piston speed of 30 mm/s .
viscoelastic liquids was presented. A MPR was used to
carry out the experiments. While a least-squares finite
element based technique was used to numerically
simulate the flow equations. The theoretical
formulation permits the governing equations to be cast
in the form of a totally hyperbolic system of first-order
PDEs. The Giesekus model was used to describe the
liquid viscoelasticity. We suggest using a multi-mode
Giesekus model to accurately represent the liquid
viscoelasticity and to use more than one capillary
module to get higher shear-rates.

References

[1] M. Renardy, Mathematical Analysis of viscoelastic

Flows, Chapter 2, CBMS-NSF Regional
Conference Series in Applied Mathematics, No. 73,
2000.

[2] P.A. Thompson, Compressible Fluid Dynamics,

McGraw-Hill, New York, 1972.
Fig. 1: Grid and velocity isocontours for the MPR.
[3] M. R. Mackley & P. Spittler, “Viscoelastic
The flow is considered to be isothermal. Since we have
Characterisation of Polyethylene Using a Multipass
a hyperbolic system of first order partial differential
Rheometer,” Rheol. Acta. 35, 202-209, 1996.

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