Numerical Simulations of Convection Induced by Korteweg Stresses in Miscible Polymer-Monomer Systems

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2005

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

School

Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Abstract

We modeled a miscible polymer-monomer system with a sharp transition zone separating the two fluids to determine if convection analogous to Marangoni convection in immiscible fluids could occur because of thermal and concentration gradients. We considered three cases: with a temperature gradient along the transition zone, with a variable transition zone width, and one with a gradient in the conversion of polymerization. Using the Navier-Stokes equations with an additional term, the Korteweg stress term arising from non-local interactions in the fluid, we demonstrated with realistic parameters that measurable fluid flow would result in the absence of buoyancy-driven convection for all three cases. To avoid buoyancy-driven convection, the experiment would have to be performed in microgravity.

Publication Title

Microgravity Science and Technology

Volume

17

Issue

1

First Page

8

Last Page

12

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