Role of chain scission in cross-slot flow of wormlike micellar solutions

In addition to the commonly observed elastic asymmetric instability, experiments of wormlike micellar solutions in a cross-slot device have shown the formation of lip vortices along the walls of the inlet channels. For these highly viscoelastic solutions the secondary flow can develop prior to the symmetry breaking. This indicates that these instabilities are complex phenomena whose behavior is likely influenced by a combination of factors. This work extends previous computational studies of the elastic instability predicted using the upper-convected Maxwell and Oldroyd-B models showing that one important factor may be the scission and reforming of the micelles.Received 30 March 2017DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.2.071301©2017 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasComplex fluidsNon-Newtonian fluidsRheologyPolymers & Soft MatterFluid Dynamics