The numerical simulation of some contraction flows of highly elastic liquids and their impact on the relevance of the Couette correction in extensional rheology - Michael Webster (Chemical Engineering Science, 2009)
This pioneering well-cited research addresses the grand-challenge problem facing computational rheology, of deriving a constitutive model to describe quantitatively-observed pressure-drops in contraction-flows. Here, constant shear-viscosity, strain-hardening Boger-type fluids have revealed the counter-influences on pressure-drop enhancement of first-normal stress-differences and extensional viscosity. Key breakthroughs are presented with Oldroyd-based predictions, involving front-line research into Personal-Care-Products (shampoos, £122k+ funding), resulting in major advance towards unifying theory and experiment. The insights provided are resulting in tangible manufacturing productivity and reliability improvements on targeted industrial applications in this area, such as filling and emptying, worth more than 10 million pa to collaborators, Procter & Gamble.