Abstract
A startup flow of polymeric liquids was numerically simulated using a stochastic approach. In this approach, the FENE dumbbell model was applied and the polymer stress was computed by the stochastic calculation of connected vectors of the dumbbell. The startup flow in a 2 : 1 : 2 abrupt contraction-expansion channel that consists of two parallel channels connected by a slit. The effects of the slit length and the Weissenebrg number were investigated. Temporal change in the velocity and stress fields are analyzed together with microscopic predictons of molecular orientation. It is an advantage of the present method to analyze the flow behavior with macroscopic information.
