Flow Bifurcations of Shear-Thinning Fluids in a Channel with Sudden Contraction and Expansion

摘要

The flow bifurcation transitions of shear-thinning fluids in a channel with sudden contraction and expansion are studied by means of numerical modeling. The rheological properties of the non-Newtonian fluids under consideration are described with the Carreau-Yasuda model. Flow-bifurcation diagrams for media with different viscosity curves are calculated. It is shown that the values of the critical Reynolds number in the bifurcation point and length of the formed corner vortices substantially depend on the slope of the viscosity curve.