TWO-DIMENSIONAL LAMINAR FLOW OF NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS IN A T-CHANNEL

Abstract

Flow behaviour of non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluids in a two-dimensional right angled horizontal T-channel are studied in the laminar flow regime. In particular, the numerical calculations are performed for the following range of physical parameters: Reynolds number (Re) = 5-200 and power-law index (n) = 0.2-1 (covering shear-thinning, n<1 and Newtonian fluids, n=1). The flow fields have been described by streamline contours. The engineering parameters such as recirculation length, critical Reynolds number for the onset of flow separation and the variation of viscosity along the lower wall of side branch are determined for the above range of settings. The results showed that the length of recirculation zone increases on increasing the Reynolds number and it also increases on decreasing the power-law index. The critical Reynolds number for the onset of flow separation decreases with decrease in power-law index (n).