Lubricated cross-slot flow of a low density polyethylene melt

J. Soulages, T. Schweizer, D. C. Venerus, M. Kröger, H. C. Öttinger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Flow-induced birefringence and particle tracking velocimetry are used to investigate the lubricated flow of a low density polyethylene melt in a cross-slot geometry. The numerical predictions of the extended Pom-Pom (XPP) model in its original and modified (mXPP) version as well as those of the Giesekus model are analyzed along selected streamlines in two-dimensional (2D) complex flows involving a mixture of shear and planar extensional deformations at two Weissenberg numbers of W i = 21 and 29. Oil film light reflections perturbing the particle tracking velocimetry data analysis together with multiple orders of retardation occurring within the laser beam close to the stagnation point prevent a conclusive discrimination between the mentioned models. Although the agreement with the experimental data is mostly qualitative, the Pom-Pom model does not overestimate the data along the cross-slot symmetry lines contrary to what was observed in other cross-slot experiments without lubrication. This is a clear indicator that end effects play a central role in unlubricated cross-slot geometries having a large aspect ratio.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)52-64
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics
Volume154
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2008
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Applied Mathematics

Keywords

  • End effects
  • Flow-induced birefringence
  • Lubrication
  • Numerical simulations
  • Particle tracking velocimetry
  • Pom-pom models
  • Stagnation flow

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