Journal
RHEOLOGICA ACTA
Volume 50, Issue 3, Pages 277-290Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00397-011-0539-0
Keywords
Semi-dilute polymer solution; Contraction flow; PIV; Viscoelastic fluid; Elongational flow; Pressure drop
Categories
Funding
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/E032699, EP/E033091]
- Linkam Scientific Instruments Ltd.
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The non-linear dynamics of a semi-dilute (c/c* = 15) polydisperse polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution in microfluidics are studied experimentally using benchmark contraction-expansion flow geometries with three contraction-expansion ratios (4:1:4, 8:1:8 and 16:1:16) and two narrow channel lengths (L (c)/D (h) = 53 and 5.3, where L (c) is the length of the narrow channel and D (h) is its hydraulic diameter). Complex flows over a range of elasticity numbers (El), Weissenberg numbers (Wi) and Reynolds numbers (Re) are characterized using micro-particle image velocimetry (mu-PIV) and pressure drop measurements. The evolution of vortex formation and dynamics has been visualized through a step-flow-rate experiment. Various flow dynamics regimes have been quantified and are presented in a Wi-Re diagram. The experimental results reveal that the contraction ratio can result in qualitatively different vortex dynamics of semi-dilute polymer solutions in microfluidics, whereas the length of the narrow channel merely affects the dynamics at a quantitative level. A single elasticity number, if defined by the size of the narrow channel, is not sufficient to account for the effects of contraction ratio on the non-linear vortex dynamics.
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