Hysteresis in viscoelastic flow instability of confined cylinders

Viscoelastic flow through porous media is relevant in many industrial and biological applications including enhanced oil recovery and biofluids' transport inside the body, where the presence of large polymeric stresses in the porous media leads to viscoelastic instability. In the present study, we numerically investigate viscoelastic instability-induced flow states in the channels consisting of (i) a single cylinder and (ii) two streamwise located cylinders. We unravel the presence of a hysteresis for pulsatile viscoelastic flows. For both geometries, the quantitative value of flow asymmetry around the cylinder resulting from the viscoelastic instability forms a closed hysteresis loop. We investigate the effects of fluid rheological properties and periodic inlet flow rates on the hysteresis loop.

Automated summary

In this study, we numerically investigate flow states induced by viscoelastic instability in channels, and study the effects of fluid rheological properties and inlet flow rates on the hysteresis loop.