Numerical simulation of contraction flow for viscoelastic fluids at high Weissenberg number by the streamline-upwind finite element method

The electrorheological effect found for the suspensions was numerically analyzed by three- and two-dimensional molecular-dynamics-like simulations. The shear stress in a uniform shear flow field was calculated from results obtained by the simulations. The calculation suggested that the increase in the apparent viscosity of the suspension might be attributed to the clustering of the dispersing spherical particles between a pair of electrodes under the influence of the applied electric field. The electrorheological effect calculated for the three-dimensional model was comparable to that computed for the two-dimensional model. Both three- and two-dimensional simulations predict that the electrorheological fluid behaves as a Bingham fluid.