Investigation of Pressure Variation and Losses in Inertial and Non-isothermal Flow of Viscoelastic Fluids through the Symmetric Planar Channel with Sudden Expansion

In this study, the inertial and non-isothermal flow of viscoelastic fluid has been simulated inside the symmetric planar channel with 1:3 sudden expansion. The non-linear form of Phan Thien-Tanner (PTT) has been used for modeling the rheological and complex behavior of the viscoelastic fluid. For creating the non-isothermal flow, temperature values are constant and different at the inlet and on the walls of the channel. To simulate the non-isothermal flow, the PISO algorithm is used and the governing equations are linearized by finite volume method (FVM). Also, fluid properties are a function of temperature and viscous dissipation term has been applied in the energy equation. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of elastic property, inertial force and viscous dissipation on the flow pattern, pressure changes, pressure drop coefficient and loss coefficient for inertial and nonisothermal flow in the expanded part of the planar channel. The results of this study show that increasing the Reynolds number in the range of laminar flow creates an asymmetric flow pattern in the expanded part of the planar channel (unlike the sudden expansion pipe) which plays a major role on the distribution and drop of pressure in this part.