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The creeping motion of immiscible drops through a converging/diverging tube

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

W. L. Olbricht  and
L. G. Leal
W. L. Olbricht
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125 Present address: School of Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853.
L. G. Leal
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
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Abstract

Results of experiments on the low-Reynolds-number flow of liquid drops through a horizontal circular tube with a diameter that varies sinusoidally with axial position are reported. Measurements of the contribution of the drop to the local pressure gradient and the relative velocity of the drop are correlated with the time-dependent drop shape. Both Newtonian and viscoelastic suspending fluids are considered. The viscosity ratio, volumetric flow rate and drop size are varied in the experiment, and both neutrally buoyant and non-neutrally buoyant drops are studied. Comparison with previous results for a straight-wall tube shows that the influence of the tube boundary geometry on the drop shape is substantial, but the qualitative effect of the tube shape depends strongly on the relative importance of viscous forces compared to interfacial tension for the particular experiment. For Newtonian fluids, two modes of drop breakup, which are distinguished by the magnitude of the viscosity ratio, are observed. When the suspending fluid is viscoelastic, both shear-thinning and time-dependent rheological effects are present.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 134 , September 1983 , pp. 329 - 355
Copyright
© 1983 Cambridge University Press

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