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Numerical simulation of viscous fingering of shear‐thinning fluids
Author(s) -
Singh Brajeesh K.,
Azaiez Jalel
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450790614
Subject(s) - viscous fingering , shear thinning , instability , mechanics , rheology , hele shaw flow , newtonian fluid , non newtonian fluid , materials science , fractal , carreau fluid , flow (mathematics) , shear (geology) , shear flow , porous medium , physics , mathematics , open channel flow , porosity , composite material , mathematical analysis
Abstract The viscous fingering instability of miscible shear‐thinning fluids has been examined using a pseudo‐spectral numerical technique based on the Hartley transform. The instability was studied for a flow in a rectilinear Hele‐Shaw cell, and the shear‐thinning character of the fluids has been modelied using the Carreau equation. New mechanisms of viscous fingering not previously observed in the case of similar Newtonian flow displacements have been identified. These mechanisms, which are reminiscent of the fractal patterns observed in experimental studies, were interpreted in terms of the velocity‐dependent mobility of the flow.