Creeping flow of dilute polymer solutions past cylinders and spheres (Q1119084)

A dilute polymer solution is modelled as a suspension of dumbbells with finite extensibility. Time-dependent numerical calculations are performed of flow part cylindrical and spherical surfaces at low Reynolds number. A finite difference scheme is employed in which the evolution in time of the dumbbells is followed from an initially unstretched equilibrium. Results are calculated with (i) a no-slip, and (ii) a zero-tangential- stress boundary condition at the body surface. At large Deborah number, D, the polymer is most highly stretched in thin regions of fluid close to and downstream of stagnation points of the flow. The most important region dynamically is found to be at the rear of the obstacle. Numerical refinements in space and time are included in order properly to resolve this fine-scale structure. Numerically stable results are obtained for values of D up to 16, and show that the flow field and drag force on the obstacle tend toward finite values at large D. Experimental measurements of the drag on a falling rigid sphere, and the velocity distribution around it, are compared with the numerical results for the no-slip boundary. Observations of bubble behaviour are discussed in the light of the results for the slip boundary.