Viscoelastic Flow Analysis Using A New Singular / Decoupled Finite Element Method
Details
For solving viscoelastic flow problems including singular point, such as die-swell and/or sudden contraction flows, the singular / decoupled finite element methods (SFEM) are investigated. We have calculated the die-swell flows at higher Weissenberg number using SFEM; where all of nodal points for the velocity, pressure and stress fields are removed from the singularity, and the shape of singular elements are sector. When introducing such singular elements to the traditional FEM programs only with ordinary elements, the meshing and topology should be changed completely due to the shape of singular elements. To avoid such difficulty, we propose a singular elements, which are associated with new special interpolation functions; and the shape of singular elements are quadrilateral so as to keep compatibility with traditional FEM programs. It is found that the new SFEM yields the more smooth results.
