Example 3

EXAMPLE 3
CONTRACTION FLOW OF A VISCOELASTIC LIQUID

DESCRIPTION

In the first two examples, we have considered the converging flow of an inelastic liquid. In
this third example, we would like to investigate the 4:1 axisymmetric contraction flow of a
viscoelastic liquid at a high Weissenberg number. Non-dimensional values are used here.

We select a Phan Thien-Tanner viscoelastic constitutive model. The material parameters are:

1 + 2 = 1,

2/(1 + 2) = 1/9,

= 5,

= 0.2,

= 0.015.

For the sake of clarity, we assume that the problem has been made non-dimensional by
scaling all dimensions and physical parameters.

The flow geometry with the relevant boundary conditions are displayed in Fig. 1. Four
boundary sets are considered: an inflow and an outflow both with the same volumetric flow
rate Q = , a rigid wall, and an axis of symmetry. In viscoelastic calculations, the stress field is
also unknown and must be computed together with the velocity and pressure fields. The
hyperbolic character of the viscoelastic constitutive equation requires essential boundary
conditions for the stress at the inlet.

Fully developed velocity profiles are computed in the inlet and outlet sections. Those values
are imposed as boundary conditions. In addition, the components of the stress tensor are also
imposed as an essential condition along the inlet.

For the values of Q and given previously, the Weissenberg number is large in the
downstream section and the problem is highly non-linear. From our experience, we know
that the program will not converge in one steady-state step to the solution of this problem.
Therefore, an evolution procedure is applied on the relaxation time ; the program will
automatically increase the Weissenberg number when the previous solution has converged.

January 2017 3.1 Release 18.0

 Example 3

outflow
Q impos ed

axis of rigid wall

symmetry

inflow
Q impos ed

Fig. 1. Flow geometry and boundary conditions

KEYWORDS

viscoelasticity, differential viscoelastic model, Phan Tien-Tanner model, evolution, relaxation

time, Weissenberg number, non-linearity

FILENAMES

contr41.msh, contr41.dat, contr41.cons, contr41.lst, contr41.res, contr41.rst,

contr41.cfx.res

January 2017 3.2 Release 18.0

 Example 3

MESH GENERATION

The mesh, which in this case has been generated with polymesh, is named contr41.msh. It is
included in the box x=[0, 4], y = [-20, 20].

Fig. 2. Finite element mesh.

Four boundary sets have been defined, named BS1 to BS4; BS1 will be an Inflow region; BS2
will be a zero velocity wall; BS3 will be an outflow; and BS4 will be an axis of symmetry (this
is an axisymmetric geometry).

POLYDATA SESSION

- Filename syntax:
- File preferences:
. New prefix: contr41
- Read a mesh file: contr41.msh
- Create a new task: F.E.M task, Evolution, 2D axisymmetric geometry see note 1
- Create a subtask: Differential viscoelastic isothermal flow problem
. Domain: S1 (whole mesh)
. Material data:
Differential viscoelastic models:
Phan Thien - Tanner model:

January 2017 3.3 Release 18.0

 Example 3

visc = 1.0
trelax = 5.0:
with EVOL on trelax: f(S) = S see note 2
eps = 0.015
xi = 0.2
ratio = 0.11112
No density, no inertia, no gravity
. Flow Boundary Conditions:
BS1: Inflow; flow rate = 3.141593 (fully developed, volumetric)
see note 3
BS2: vn = vs = 0
BS3: Outflow; flow rate = 3.141593 (fully developed, volumetric)
see note 4
BS4: axis of symmetry
. Interpolation:
Coordinates: linear
Stresses: 4X4 SU element see note 5
Velocities: quadratic
Pressure: linear
- Assign the pressure: see note 6
Pressure condition for field 1:
p = 0 at the node closest to coordinates (0, 20)
- Assign the stream function:
= 0 at the node closest to coordinates (4, -20)
- Numerical parameters: see note 7
Evolution parameters:
Initial value of S = 0
Upper limit of S = 1
Initial value of delta-S = 0.01
Min. admissible value of delta-S = 0.0001
Max. admissible value of delta-S = 0.25
Max. number of successful steps = 20
Implicit Euler method for the integration
- Ouputs:

- Default output : CFD-Post

- System of units for CFD-Post: metric_mm/g/s/mA+Celsius
- Probes (optional)
contr41_1: (0.0, 0.0) contr41_3: (0.0, 2.0)
contr41_2: (0.0, -2.0) contr41_4: (2.0, -2.0)
- Save and Exit:
- Polyflow mesh file: contr41.msh
- Polyflow data file: contr41.dat
- Polyflow result file: contr41.res
- Polyflow restart file: contr41.rst
- CFD-Post: contr41.cfx.res

January 2017 3.4 Release 18.0

 Example 3

Note 1: evolution task

The task set-up is set to evolution, because this highly non-linear problem will require to
increase progressively the Weissenberg number to reach the solution.

Note 2: how to impose an "evolution" on a given parameter

Entering the keyword EVOL (in ASCII mode) or clicking on the EVOL button sets the
evolution mode to ON. The current task being of the evolution type, the menu for selecting
an evolution function will appear for all subsequent material parameters; in our case, the
relaxation time is the only parameter on which the evolution applies.

We specify as material parameter the final (S=1) value of the relaxation time we want to
reach, and we select as a multiply by S evolution function

F(S) = S

The evolution scheme is subsequently applied to the relaxation time. In particular,

increases linearly with the evolution parameter S. Data for the evolution scheme itself will be
specified later (by default, S goes from 0 to 1 and this is appropriate in this case).

Entering the keyword EVOL or clicking on the EVOL button a second time turns the
evolution mode to OFF; the question on the dependency of the parameter will no longer
appear (unless EVOL is turned on again). Other parameters are then defined.

Note 3: inflow

The default type of boundary condition is not appropriate for BS1 (the default is zero velocity,
and we want an inflow). Inflow boundary conditions are imposed along the boundary 1, with
a volumetric flow rate Q = . For viscoelastic calculations, selecting inflow boundary
conditions also ensures that essential boundary conditions are imposed for the viscoelastic
stresses. In particular, a 1-D finite element computation is performed at the inlet, assuming a
fully developed flow. Instead of selecting an evolution on , we might have chosen an
evolution on the flow rate Q.

Note 4: outflow

For viscoelastic calculations, velocity boundary conditions should be imposed at the exit of
the flow domain if one expects a fully developed channel flow (because the normal force does
not vanish in a fully developed flow). Selecting an outflow ensures that consistent boundary
conditions are imposed, provided that the flow rates at the inlet and outlet are the same,
because of the conservation of mass constraint. Note that if an evolution on the flow rate was
to be used, the same dependency MUST be entered at the inlet and at the outlet.

January 2017 3.5 Release 18.0

 Example 3

Note 5:

The viscoelastic stress shape function type can be modified in the 'interpolation' menu, upon
user request. However, the default choice is the most recommended for high Weissenberg
number computations: 4x4 sub-elements with SU (Streamline Upwind) technique.

Note 6: assign the pressure

Normal velocities have been imposed everywhere along the domain boundary. In view of the
incompressibility, the pressure is then defined with respect to an additive constant. The user
can specify the coordinates of a point at which the pressure vanishes. POLYFLOW imposes a
zero pressure condition at the closest nodal point.

Note 7: numerical parameters

In this example, it is just a check that all numerical parameters have been properly defined.
Note that we also check the various numerical parameters for the evolution scheme, i.e. initial
and final values for S, initial S-increment, etc. In this case, those default values are
appropriate for the current problem. Note that this is not always the case.

RUNNING POLYFLOW

At the present stage, we have three files related to Example 3. In view of our selected
filename syntax, their names are CONTR41.MDF, CONTR41.MSH and CONTR41.DAT. The
data file CONTR41.DAT is used as standard input file for POLYFLOW. As standard output
file, the listing, we select the name CONTR41.LST. POLYFLOW also produces result files:
CONTR41.RES and CONTR41.RST, which contain the solution of the flow problem at the end
of the evolution scheme and the S-derivative of the solution.

Let us examine the part of the listing file related to the evolution scheme. We observe that
one step have been restarted for lack of convergence. In case of convergence, the step in S is
multiplied by 1.5. In case of lack of convergence, the step in S is divided by 2, the solution as
well as all derivatives are discarded and the calculation is performed again.

The algorithm ends either when the final value of S (usually 1) has been reached, or when the
step in S becomes smaller than a prescribed value.

GRAPHIC POST-PROCESSING

POLYFLOW generates files for graphic display. Here again, according to our selected
filename syntax, the last generated file is named CONTR41.CFX.RES, while the previous ones
are located in the directory contr41.cfx and are named i_full.trn, where the index i denotes the
evolution step. The corresponding value of S (and therefore ) can be found in the listing file

January 2017 3.6 Release 18.0

 Example 3

CONTR41.LST. Let us recall that increases linearly with S, and that = 5 when S = 1. In
Fig. 3, we display the streamlines obtained for = 0.05, 0.2 and 1.

Fig 3. Contraction flow of a viscoelastic liquid.

Streamlines obtained at various Weissenberg numbers.

January 2017 3.7 Release 18.0