Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Boundary conditions for fluids with internal orientational degrees of freedom: Apparent velocity slip associated with the molecular alignment

Journal Article · · Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Institute for Theoretical Physics, Technische Universitaet of Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 36, D-10623 (Germany)
  2. Polymer Physics, ETH Zuerich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, 8093 Zuerich (Switzerland)

Boundary effects are investigated for fluids with internal orientational degrees of freedom such as molecular liquids, thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals, and polymeric fluids. The orientational degrees of freedom are described by the second rank alignment tensor which is related to the birefringence. We use a standard model to describe the orientational dynamics in the presence of flow, the momentum balance equations, and a constitutive law for the pressure tensor to describe our system. In the spirit of irreversible thermodynamics, boundary conditions are formulated for the mechanical slip velocity and the flux of the alignment. They are set up such that the entropy production at the wall inferred from the entropy flux is positive definite. Even in the absence of a true mechanical slip, the coupling between orientation and flow leads to flow profiles with an apparent slip. This has consequences for the macroscopically measurable effective velocity. In analytical investigations, we consider the simplified case of an isotropic fluid in the Newtonian and stationary flow regime. For special geometries such as plane and cylindrical Couette flow, plane Poiseuille flow, and a flow down an inclined plane, we demonstrate explicitly how the boundary conditions lead to an apparent slip. Furthermore, we discuss the dependence of the effective viscosity and of the effective slip length on the model parameters.

OSTI ID:
21075554
Journal Information:
Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics, Journal Name: Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 75; ISSN PLEEE8; ISSN 1063-651X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Empirical slip and viscosity model performance for microscale gas flows.
Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2004 · Proposed for publication in the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids. · OSTI ID:961660

Apparent wall slip velocity coefficients in concentrated suspensions of noncolloidal particles
Journal Article · Tue Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1995 · Journal of Rheology · OSTI ID:124249

Wall Slip of Semi-Solid A356 in Couette Rheometers
Journal Article · Wed May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings · OSTI ID:21516702