Molecular dynamics simulation of the flow mechanism of shear-thinning fluids in a microchannel

Shear-thinning fluids have been widely used in microfluidic systems,but their internal flow mechanism is still unclear.Therefore,in this paper,molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the laminar flow of shear-thinning fluid in a microchannel.We validated the feasibility of our simulation method by evaluating the mean square displacement and Reynolds number of the solution layers.The results show that the change rule of the fluid system's velocity profile and interaction energy can reflect the shear-thinning characteristics of the fluids.The velocity profile resembles a top-hat shape,intensifying as the fluid's power law index decreases.The interaction energy between the wall and the fluid decreases gradually with increasing velocity,and a high concentration of non-Newtonian fluid reaches a plateau sooner.Moreover,the velocity profile of the fluid is related to the molecule number density distribution and their values are inversely proportional.By analyzing the radial distribution function,we found that the hydrogen bonds between solute and water molecules weaken with the increase in velocity.This observation offers an explanation for the shear-thinning phenomenon of the non-Newtonian flow from a micro perspective.

Mixing of miscible shear-thinning fluids in a lid-driven cavity

The concentration and velocity fields of two refractive index matched miscible shear-thinning fluids in a lid-driven cavity were investigated by using planar laser-induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry,as well by computational fluid dynamics.Quantitative analyses show that the results obtained by flow simulations with the species transport model are in good agreement with the experimental results.The effects of different parameters were studied by using the intensity of segregation.For two fluids with the same rheological parameters,the relative amounts of liquids H_(1)/H and the power-law index n dominate the mixing process while the Reynolds number Re plays a marginal role.As for two fluids with density difference,buoyancy has significant influence on the mixing process.The dimensionless group Ar/Re(redefined such as to include shear thinning behavior)is proposed for assessing the effect of buoyancy and rheological properties on the mixing of miscible shear-thinning fluids.

Nanoengineered Shear-Thinning Hydrogel Barrier for Preventing Postoperative Abdominal Adhesions

More than 90%of surgical patients develop postoper-ative adhesions,and the incidence of hospital re-admissions can be as high as 20%.Current adhesion barriers present limited efficacy due to difficulties in application and incompatibility with minimally invasive interventions.To solve thisclinical limitation,we developed an injectable and sprayable shear-thinning hydrogel barrier(STHB)composed of silicate nanoplatelets and poly(ethylene oxide).We optimized this technology to recover mechanical integrity after stress,enabling its delivery though inject-able and sprayable methods.We also demonstrated limited cell adhesion and cytotoxicity to STHB compositions in vitro.The STHB was then tested in a rodent model of peritoneal injury to determine its e cacy preventing the formation of postoperative adhesions.After two weeks,the peritoneal adhesion index was used as a scoring method to determine the formation of postoperative adhesions,and STHB formulations presented superior e cacy compared to a commercially available adhesion barrier.Histological and immunohistochemical examination showed reduced adhesion formation and minimal immune infiltration in STHB formulations.Our technology demonstrated increased e cacy,ease of use in complex anatomies,and compatibility with di erent delivery methods,providing a robust universal platform to prevent postoperative adhesions in a wide range of surgical interventions.

Shear-thinning behavior of the CaO–SiO2–CaF2–Si3N4 system mold flux and its practical application

Satisfying the mold-flux performance requirements for high-speed continuous casting necessitates the development of a new non-Newtonian-fluid mold flux with shear-thinning behavior, i.e., a mold flux whose viscosity is relatively high under lower shear rates and relatively low under higher shear rates. In this work, a mold flux that exhibits shear-thinning behavior was developed by adding different amounts of Si_3N_4 to the CaO–SiO_2–CaF_2 mold flux. The shear-thinning behavior was investigated using a rotational viscometer. In addition, the microstructure of the newly prepared slags was studied by high-temperature Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the mechanism of shear-thinning was attributable to a temporary viscosity loss caused by the one-way shear stress, whereas the corresponding magnitude of shear-thinning was closely related to the degree of polymerization(DP). Finally, the non-Newtonian fluid mold flux was used for laboratory casting tests, which revealed that the mold flux could reduce slag entrapment and positively affect the continuous casting optimization.

A quasi-zero-stiffness isolator with a shear-thinning viscous damper

Quasi-zero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolators have been widely studied,because they show excellent high static and low dynamic stiffnesses and can effectively solve low-frequency and ultralow-frequency vibration.However,traditional QZS(T-QZS)vibration isolators usually adopt linear damping,owing to which achieving good isolation performance at both low and high frequencies is difficult.T-QZS isolators exhibit hardening stiffness characteristics,and their vibration isolation performance is even worse than that of linear vibration isolators under a large excitation amplitude.Therefore,this study proposes a QZS isolator with a shear-thinning viscous damper(SVD)to improve the vibration isolation performance of the T-QZS isolators.The force-velocity relation of the SVD is obtained,and a dynamic model is established for the isolator.The dynamic responses of the system are solved using the harmonic balance method(HBM)and the Runge-Kutta method.The vibration isolation performance of the system is evaluated using force transmissibility,and the isolator parameters are analyzed.The results show that compared with the T-QZS isolators,the proposed QZS-SVD isolator achieves the lower initial vibration isolation frequency and peak value,and exhibits better vibration isolation performance at medium and high frequencies.Moreover,the proposed isolator can withstand a large excitation amplitude in the effective vibration isolation range.

Shear-thinning Catechol-modified Chitosan Hydrogel Loaded with Silver Nanoparticles for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

Shear-thinning hydrogels have emerged for endoscopic submucosal dissection,while wound intervention after surgery has rarely been mentioned.Herein,a catechol-modified chitosa n hydrogel with shear-thinning property was developed for simultaneously facilitating endoscopic submucosal dissection and postoperative wound healing.Benefiting from the shear-thinning and self-healing characteristics,the asprepared hydrogel showed easily endoscopic injectability.It also performed very well as submucosal cushion,which could remain above 70%after injection for 120 min in ex vivo porcine large intestine model.In fact,the cushion height of normal saline dramatically decreased to 46%of the initial height at 30 min.Ag nanoparticles encapsulated into the network endowed the hydrogel with almost reached 100%antibacterial effect against E.coli and S.aureus.The hemolysis ratio of the hydrogel was calculated to be as low as 0.8%.Combined with good hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility,the as-prepared hydrogel displayed much higher in vivo wound closu re and healing efficacy than normal saline.These results demonstrated the superiority of the shear-thinning chitosan hydrogel in facilitating clinical endoscopic submucosal dissection surgery.

A shear-thinning,ROS-scavenging hydrogel combined with dental pulp stem cells promotes spinal cord repair by inhibiting ferroptosis

Spinal cord injury(SCI)is a serious clinical disease.Due to the deformability and fragility of the spinal cord,overly rigid hydrogels cannot be used to treat SCI.Hence,we used TPA and Laponite to develop a hydrogel with shear-thinning ability.This hydrogel exhibits good deformation,allowing it to match the physical properties of the spinal cord;additionally,this hydrogel scavenges ROS well,allowing it to inhibit the lipid peroxidation caused by ferroptosis.According to the in vivo studies,the TPA@Laponite hydrogel could synergistically inhibit ferroptosis by improving vascular function and regulating iron metabolism.In addition,dental pulp stem cells(DPSCs)were introduced into the TPA@Laponite hydrogel to regulate the ratios of excitatory and inhibitory synapses.It was shown that this combination biomaterial effectively reduced muscle spasms and promoted recovery from SCI.

Unsteady Flow of Shear-Thinning non-Newtonian Incompressible Fluid Through a Twin-Screw Extruder

The unsteady flow of viscous incompressible shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid with mixed bound- ary is investigated. The boundary condition on the outflow is the modified natural boundary condition, it con- tains the additional nonlinear term, which enables us to control the kinetic energy of the backward flow. The global existence of weak solution is proved. The fictitious domain method which consists in filling the moving rigid screws with the surrounding fluid and taking into account the boundary conditions on these bodies by introducing a well-chosen distribution of boundary forces is used.

A Laser Imaging-LDV Coupling Measurement of Single Bubble Forming and Rising in Shear-thinning Fluid

The shape evolution of bubble formed in carboxymethylcellulose(CMC) aqueous solution was real-time observed using laser image technique. The flow fields of liquid around growing and rising bubble were measured by laser Doppler velocimetry(LDV), and the liquid mean velocity and its contour curves were obtained. The results show that bubble grows as spherical shape because of the dominant role of surface tension in the early period, and then is stretched gradually as a teardrop shape due to the common effect of buoyancy and shear-thinning of fluid. The axial mean velocity of liquid phase takes on Gaussian distribution with the symmetrical axis passing through orifice center. However, the radial mean velocity increases first and then decreases with the increase of the distance from measured point to the symmetrical axis above. Further, the axial component along symmetrical axis decreases initially and increases with the rise of height, as well as its corresponding contour map diverging gradually. The radial component, yet, decreases steadily with the rise of height, and the maximum value deviates towards the two sides until disappear, as it contour shape of butterfly's "front wing".

Easily-injectable shear-thinning hydrogel provides long-lasting submucosal barrier for gastrointestinal endoscopic surgery

Submucosal injection material has shown protective effect against gastrointestinal injury during endoscopic surgery in clinic.However,the protective ability of existing submucosal injection material is strictly limited by their difficult injectability and short barrier time.Herein,we report a shear-thinning gellan gum hydrogel that simultaneously has easy injectability and long-lasting barrier function,together with good hemostatic property and biocompatibility.Shear-thinning property endows our gellan gum hydrogel with excellent endoscopic injection performance,and the injection pressure of our gellan gum hydrogel is much lower than that of the small molecule solution(50 wt%dextrose)when injected through the endoscopic needle.More importantly,our gellan gum hydrogel shows much stronger barrier retention ability than normal saline and sodium hyaluronate solution in the ex vivo and in vivo models.Furthermore,our epinephrine-containing gellan gum hydrogel has a satisfactory hemostatic effect in the mucosal lesion resection model of pig.These results indicate an appealing application prospect for gellan gum hydrogel utilizing as a submucosal injection material in endoscopic surgery.

On the Motion of Shear-Thinning Heat-Conducting Incompressible Fluid-Rigid System

The full Navier-Stokes-Fourier system with mixed boundary condition that describes the motion of shear-thinning and incompressible viscous fluid in a rotating multi-screw extruder is investigated. The viscosity is assumed to depend on the shear rate and the temperature. The global existence of suitable weak solutions is established. The fictitious domain method which consists in filling the moving rigid screws with the surrounding fluid and taking into account the boundary conditions on these bodies by introducing a well-chosen distribution of boundary forces is used.

Partial Regularity of Suitable Weak Solutions to the System of the Incompressible Shear-thinning Flow

This paper is devoted to the partial regularity of suitable weak solutions to the system of the incompressible shear-thinning flow in a bounded domainΩ■R^(n),n≥2.It is proved that there exists a suitable weak solution of the shear-thinning fluid in the n-D smooth bounded domain(for n≥2).For 3 D model,it is proved that the singular points are concentrated on a closed set whose 1 dimensional Hausdorff measure is zero.

Traveling Waves and Capillarity Driven Spreading of Shear-Thinning Fluids

We study capillary spreadings of thin films of liquids of power-law rheology. These satisfy ut＋（u^λ＋2｜uxxx｜^λ-1uxxx）x=0,where u （x, t） represents the thickness of the one-dimensional liquid and λ 〉 1. We look for traveling wave solutions so that u（x,t） =g（x＋ct） and thus g satisfies g＇＇＇=｜g-ε｜^1/λ/g^1＋2/λ sgn（g-ε） We show that for each ε 〉 0 there is an infinitely oscillating solution, gε, such that limt→∞ gε=ε and that gε→ g0 as ε → O, where g0≡ 0 for t ≥ 0 and g0=cλ｜t｜3λ/2λ＋1 for t〈0 for some constant cλ.

Rheological study of methane gas hydrates in the presence of micron-sized sand particles

Natural gas hydrates,intricate crystalline structures formed by water molecules and small gas molecules,have emerged as a significant and globally impactful clean energy resource.However,their commercial exploitation faces challenges,particularly operational disruptions caused by sand-related blockages.Understanding the rheological properties of hydrate slurry,especially in the presence of micron-sized sand particles,is imperative for ensuring the flow assurance of subsea hydrate exploitation.This study extensively investigates the rheological properties of sand-containing hydrate slurries.The findings reveal that these slurries exhibit non-Newtonian fluid characteristics,including yield stress,thixotropy,and shear-thinning behavior.Solid-like elastic features are observed in sand-containing hydrate slurries before yielding,transitioning to viscous behavior after yielding.Even with a minimal amount of sand,both static yield stress and yield strain experience substantial changes,correlating with the increase in sand concentration.The research conclusively establishes the thixotropic nature of sand-hydrate slurries,where the viscosity decay rate is directly influenced by the shear rate.These insights aim to contribute comprehensively to the development of effective flow assurance strategies,ensuring the safe and stable operation of subsea hydrate exploitation.

Influence of liquid film shape on evaporation performance of agitated thin film evaporator

The agitated thin film evaporator(ATFE),which is known for its high efficiency,force the material to form a film through the scraping process of a scraper,followed by evaporation and purification.The complex shape of the liquid film inside the evaporator can significantly affect its evaporation capability.This work explores how change in shape of the liquid films affect the evaporation of the materials with non-Newtonian characteristics,achieved by changing the structure of the scraper.Examining the distribution of circumferential temperature,viscosity,and mass transfer of the flat liquid film shows that the film evaporates rapidly in shear-thinning region.Various wavy liquid films are developed by using shear-thinning theory,emphasizing the flow condition in the thinning area and the factors contributing to the exceptional evaporation capability.Further exploration is conducted on the spread patterns of the wavy liquid film and flat liquid film on the evaporation wall throughout the process.It is noted that breaking the wavy liquid film on the evaporating wall during evaporation is challenging due to its film-forming condition.For which the fundamental causes are demonstrated by acquiring the data regarding the flow rate and temperature of the liquid film.The definitive findings of the analysis reveal a significant improvement in the evaporation capability of the wavy liquid film.This enhancement is attributed to increasing the shear-thinning areas and maintaining the overall shape of the film throughout the entire evaporation process.

Numerical Study on Interaction Between Two Bubbles Rising Side by Side in CMC Solution

A numerical simulation was performed to investigate the interaction of two bubbles rising side by side in shear-thinning fluid using volume of fluid （VOF） method coupled with continuous surface force （CSF） method. By considering rheological characteristics of fluid, this approach was able to accurately capture the deformation of bubble interface, and validated by comparing with the experimental results. The rising of bubble pairs with different configurations, including horizontal alignment and oblique alignment, was simulated by the method. The influences of the bubble initial distance and the bubble alignment were studied by analyzing the bubble deformation, rising paths and flow fields surrounding bubbles. The results indicate that within certam mltlal bubble spacing of S = 3.3 （S＊ = SI/D, SI initial distance between bubbles, and D bubble diameter）, the dynamic interaction between two bub- bles aligned horizontally shows repulsive effect that decreases with the increase of initial bubble spacing, but weakens to certain degree by the shear-thinning properties of fluid. However, the interaction between two bubbles aligned obliquely presents a repulsive effect for the small angle involved but an attractive impact for the large one, which is vet strengthened by the rheological characteristics of fluid.

Rheological characterization of A201 aluminum alloy

The thermodynamic characterization as well as the rheological characterization of the A201 alloy were conducted.Thermodynamic simulations (CALPHAD method) and calorimetric experiments were performed to determine the solidus and liquidus temperatures, the melting range and the sensitivity of the solid fraction at the thixoforming temperatures.The rheology of aluminium alloy A201 was examined using a high temperature Searle rheometer.The flow behaviour was analyzed with concentric cylinders of graphite to avoid chemical interactions with the liquid or semi-solid aluminium.The rotational body was grooved to prevent a phenomenon called wall slippage.Continuous cooling experiment was used to observe the shear rate effects on the flow behaviour.It can be seen that the viscosity level decreases at higher shear rates.Shear rate jump experiment was carried out to evaluate the steady state flow curve within the analyzed shear rate range from 60 s-1 to 260 s-1.It is found that the power law indexes are-1.35 and-1.49 for 35% and 45% solid fraction, respectively.Finally, some mechanical property data of as-cast and as-thixoformed A201 alloy are included indicating the potential for high strength applications.

Rheological properties of polymer micro-gel dispersions

The influence of swelling time, temperature, NaCl concentration and polymer micro-gel concentration on rheological properties of polymer micro-gel dispersions was studied by using a HAAKE rheometer. The results showed that with increasing swelling time and NaCl concentration, the polymer micro-gel dispersions changed from a shear-thickening fluid to a Newtonian fluid. The polymer micro-gel dispersion show shear-thinning in non-saline water. At higher swelling temperature, the time of the polymer micro-gel dispersion showing shear-thickening was shorter. With increasing polymer micro-gel concentration, the dispersion changed from shear-thickening to shear-thinning.

Non-Newtionian Effects on Chaotic Mixing Between Eccentric Cylinders

Effect of fluid elasticity and shear-thinning viscosity on the chaotic mixing between two alternately rotating cylinders has been studied. The h-p finite element method is used to obtain high accurate solutions of the steady flow. The unsteady, periodic flow is simulated using the piecewise-steady approximation. Characteristics of the chaotic mixing are analyzed by examining the asymptotic coverage of a passive tracer and the lineal stretching of the fluid elements in the annulus. For the viscoelastic fluids modeled by the upper-convected Maxwell constitutive equation (UCM), our computation predicts little effect of the fluid elasticity on the mixing patterns. On the other hand, the shear-thinning viscosity, modeled by the Carreau equation, has a large impact on the advection of a passive tracer and the distribution of lineal stretching. We find that the zones of the lowest stretching match remarkably well with the regular zones in the tracer-coverage plotting. Our study reveals the vital importance of reducing the discretization errors of the velocity field in the numerical simulation of chaotic flews.

On the Study of Magneto-Hydrodynamic Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow throughout Curvilinear Channel with Corrugated Walls

This article aims to numerically investigate the flow pattern for Newtonian and power law non-Newtonian fluid in a semi-half circular channel with corrugated walls under the influence of a magnetic field. The results indicate that, presence of a magnetic field affects the flow field in several aspects, especially in the vortex creation and dissipation. In addition, the analysis is carried out for different Reynolds numbers to ascertain the influence of magnetic field on each flow regime. Eventually, the analysis is carried out for a range of power indices including pseudo plastic (shear-thinning) to dilatants (shear-thickening) fluids. The results show that by increasing the power-index, the vortices begin to form and grow gradually so that in the shear-thickening fluid an extra vortex is formed and created nearby the corrugated part of the channel.