scholarly journals Mathematical modelling of non-axisymmetric capillary tube drawing

2008 ◽  
Vol 605 ◽  
pp. 181-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. GRIFFITHS ◽  
P. D. HOWELL

This paper concerns the manufacture of non-axisymmetric capillary tubing via the Vello process, in which molten glass is fed through a die and drawn off vertically. The shape of the cross-section evolves under surface tension as it flows downstream. The aim is to achieve a given desired final shape, typically square or rectangular, and our goal is to determine the required die shape.We use the result that, provided the tube is slowly varying in the axial direction, each cross-section evolves like a two-dimensional Stokes flow when expressed in suitably scaled Lagrangian coordinates. This allows us to use a previously derived model for the surface-tension-driven evolution of a thin two-dimensional viscous tube. We thus obtain, and solve analytically, equations governing the axial velocity, thickness and circumference of the tube, as well as its shape. The model is extended to include non-isothermal effects.

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Richardson

The representation of a biharmonic function in terms of analytic functions is used to transform a problem of two-dimensional Stokes flow into a boundary-value problem in analytic function theory. The relevant conditions to be satisfied at a free surface, where there is a given surface tension, are derived.A method for dealing with the difficulties of such a free surface is demonstrated by obtaining solutions for a two-dimensional, in viscid bubble in (a) a shear flow, and (b) a pure straining motion. In both cases the bubble is found to have an elliptical cross-section.The solutions obtained can be shown to be unique only if certain restrictive assumptions are made, and if these are relaxed the same methods may give further solutions. Experiments on three-dimensional inviscid bubbles (Rumscheidt & Mason 1961; Taylor 1934) demonstrate that angular points appear in the bubble surface, and an analysis is presented to show that such a discontinuity in a two-dimensional free surface is necessarily a genuine cusp and the nature of the flow about such a point is examined.


We consider the problem of designing the section of a cylinder to minimize the drag per unit length it experiences when placed perpendicular to a uniform stream at low Reynolds number; we suppose the area of the cross-section to be given, and the flow to be two-dimensional. The relevant properties of a cylinder of general cross-section in a particular orientation can conveniently be expressed in terms of its equivalent radius; when the drag and flow at infinity are parallel, this equivalent radius is the radius of the circular cylinder giving rise to the same drag per unit length. We obtain a variational formula for this equivalent radius when the surface of the cylinder is perturbed; this shows that the optimum profile we seek must be such that the flow past it has a vorticity of constant magnitude at its surface, and this fact enables the optimum to be determined analytically. The efficacy of a particular section may be measured by its effective radius, this being the equivalent radius when the length scale is chosen to give the section an area π ; thus a circular cylinder has an effective radius of 1. The minimum possible effective radius, achieved by the optimum profile, is 0.88876. To illustrate some of the arguments we exploit in a more familiar setting, we also obtain a variational formula for the drag on a three-dimensional body in Stokes flow when its surface is perturbed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. RICHARDSON

Consider the two-dimensional quasi-steady Stokes flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid occupying a time-dependent region bounded by free surfaces, the motion being driven solely by a constant surface tension acting at the free boundaries. When the fluid region is simply-connected, it is known that this Stokes flow problem is closely related to a Hele-Shaw free boundary problem when the zero-surface-tension model is employed. Specifically, if the initial configuration for the Stokes flow problem can be produced by injection at N points into an empty Hele-Shaw cell, then so can all later configurations. Moreover, there are N invariants; while the N points at which injection must take place move, the amount to be injected at each of these points remains the same. In this paper, we consider the situation when the fluid region is doubly-connected and show that, provided the geometry has an appropriate rotational symmetry, the same results continue to hold and can be exploited to determine the solution of the Stokes flow problem.


1998 ◽  
Vol 357 ◽  
pp. 29-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. POZRIKIDIS

Numerical studies are performed addressing the development of regions of high curvature and the spontaneous occurrence of cusped interfacial shapes in two-dimensional and axisymmetric Stokes flow. In the numerical simulations, the velocity field is computed using a boundary-integral method, and the evolution of the concentration of an insoluble surfactant over an evolving interface is computed using an implicit finite-volume method. Three configurations are considered in detail, and the results are used to elucidate three different aspects of cusp formation. In the first series, the deformation of a two-dimensional bubble immersed in a family of straining flows devised by Antanovskii, and of an axisymmetric bubble immersed in an analogous family of flows devised by Sherwood, are examined. The numerical results indicate that highly elongated and cusped two-dimensional shapes, and pointed or cusped axisymmetric shapes, are unstable and should not be expected to occur in practice. In the second series of studies, the role of an insoluble surfactant on the transient deformation of bubbles subject to the Antanovskii or Sherwood flow is investigated. Under certain conditions, the reduced surface tension at the tips raises the local curvature to high values and causes the ejection of a sheet or column of gas by means of tip streaming. In the third series of studies, the coalescence of a polygonal formation of five viscous columns of a fluid placed in an arrangement that differs only slightly from one proposed recently by Richardson is examined. The numerical results confirm Richardson's predictions that transient cusps may occur at a finite time in the presence of surface tension. The underlying physical mechanism is discussed on the basis of reversibility of surface-driven Stokes flow and with reference to the regularity of the motion driven by negative surface tension. Replacing the inviscid ambient gas with a slightly viscous fluid whose viscosity is as low as one hundredth the viscosity of the cylinders suppresses the cusp formation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 593 ◽  
pp. 181-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. GRIFFITHS ◽  
P. D. HOWELL

We consider the evolution of an annular two-dimensional region occupied by viscous fluid driven by surface tension and applied pressure at the free surfaces. We assume that the thickness of the domain is small compared with its circumference, so that it may be described as a thin viscous sheet whose ends are joined to form a closed loop. Analytical and numerical solutions of the resulting model are obtained and we show that it is well posed whether run forwards or backwards in time. This enables us to determine, in many cases explicitly, which initial shapes will evolve into a desired final shape. We also show how the application of an internal pressure may be used to control the evolution.This work is motivated by the production of non-axisymmetric capillary tubing via the Vello process. Molten glass is fed through a die and drawn off vertically, while the shape of the cross-section evolves under surface tension and any applied pressure as it flows downstream. Here the goal is to determine the die shape required to achieve a given desired final shape, typically square or rectangular. We conclude by discussing the role of our two-dimensional model in describing the three-dimensional tube-drawing process.


1997 ◽  
Vol 351 ◽  
pp. 139-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. POZRIKIDIS

The evolution of the interface between two viscous fluid layers in a two-dimensional horizontal channel confined between two parallel walls is considered in the limit of Stokes flow. The motion is generated either by the translation of the walls, in a shear-driven or plane-Couette mode, or by an axial pressure gradient, in a plane-Poiseuille mode. Linear stability analysis for infinitesimal perturbations and fluids with matched densities shows that when the viscosities of the fluids are different and the Reynolds number is sufficiently high, the flow is unstable. At vanishing Reynolds number, the flow is stable when the surface tension has a non-zero value, and neutrally stable when the surface tension vanishes. We investigate the behaviour of the interface subject to finite-amplitude two-dimensional perturbations by solving the equations of Stokes flow using a boundary-integral method. Integral equations for the interfacial velocity are formulated for the three modular cases of shear-driven, pressure-driven, and gravity-driven flow, and numerical computations are performed for the first two modes. The results show that disturbances of sufficiently large amplitude may cause permanent interfacial deformation in which the interface folds, develops elongated fingers, or supports slowly evolving travelling waves. Smaller amplitude disturbances decay, sometimes after a transient period of interfacial folding. The ratio of the viscosities of the two fluids plays an important role in determining the morphology of the emerging interfacial patterns, but the parabolicity of the unperturbed velocity profile does not affect the character of the motion. Increasing the contrast in the viscosities of the two fluids, while keeping the channel capillary number fixed, destabilizes the interfaces; re-examining the flow in terms of an alternative capillary number that is defined with respect to the velocity drop across the more-viscous layer shows that this is a reasonable behaviour. Comparing the numerical results with the predictions of a lubrication-flow model shows that, in the absence of inertia, the simplified approach can only describe a limited range of motions, and that the physical relevance of the steadily travelling waves predicted by long-wave theories must be accepted with a certain degree of reservation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 243-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik B. Hansen

The two-dimensional flow of a thin film down a vertical or tilted plane wall into an infinite pool is studied in the Stokes approximation, the principal aim being to determine the shape of the fluid surface. Results are obtained for fluids with or without surface tension. Earlier results by Ruschak, that the surface tension gives rise to thickness variation of the film, are confirmed. For small or vanishing surface tension a dip of the pool surface is found to exist close to the wall. The case of a wall moving downwards is also considered.


1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. RICHARDSON

We consider the two-dimensional quasi-steady Stokes flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid occupying a time-dependent simply-connected region bounded by a free surface, the motion being driven solely by a constant surface tension acting at the free boundary. Of particular concern here are such flows that start from an initial configuration with the fluid occupying an array of touching circular disks. We show that, when there are N such disks in a general position, the evolution of the fluid region is described by a conformal map involving 2N−1 time-dependent parameters whose variation is governed by N invariants and N−1 first order differential equations. When N=2, or when the problem enjoys some special features of symmetry, the moving boundary of the fluid domain during the motion can be determined by solving purely algebraic equations, the solution of a single differential equation being needed only to link a particular boundary shape to a particular time. The analysis is aided by exploiting a connection with Hele-Shaw free boundary flows when the zero-surface-tension model is employed. If the initial configuration for the Stokes flow problem can be produced by injection (or suction) at N points into an initially empty Hele-Shaw cell, as can the N-disk configuration referred to above, then so can all later configurations; the points where the fluid must be injected move, but the amount to be injected at each of the N points remains invariant. The efficacy of our solution procedure is illustrated by a number of examples, and we exploit the method to show that the free boundary in such a Stokes flow driven by surface tension alone may pass through a cusped state.


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