Non-Newtonian Taylor-Couette Flow Experiment with a High-precision Rheometer
Funder
Royal Society
Project Team
The team at Coventry University consists of (PI) Dr Junho Park
Value
£29,950 - value to Coventry University
£29,950 - total value of project
Duration of Project
31/03/2026 - 30/09/2026
Project Overview
Fluids in many industrial settings such as food processes, glass manufacturing or metal casting exhibit non-Newtonian behaviours (e.g. shear stress is not proportional to shear rate). For processes like mixing, pumping or production in industry, understanding and applying the dynamics of non-Newtonian fluids are important to optimise the processes. Fundamental research explored non-Newtonian fluid dynamics through a canonicalsystem called Taylor-Couette (TC) flow, a shear flow between two concentric cylinders rotating independently.
While keeping its simple geometry, the flow demonstrates the richness of complex phenomena such as instability, pattern formation or turbulence. For various fluids such as shear-thinning, viscoelastic and viscoplastic fluids, there is still a gap in our understanding of complex phenomena due to a lack of experiments in non-Newtonian TC flow.
In the proposed research, we will investigate the flow using a high-precision rheometer, which can measure the rheological properties of non-Newtonian fluids. We will explore different patterns of non-Newtonian TC flow and analyse the measurement of torque for each flow pattern.
The proposed work is important as it can advance our knowledge of non-Newtonian flow physics and contribute to practical applications such as optimal control of rotating mixers or the development of turbulence models in multi- physics fluid and thermal simulations, which are commonly used in industry. The project has, therefore, the potential to bridge the gap between practical applications and fundamental fluid mechanics, which is the UK’s major research and innovation strength driving the economy with an output of £13.9 billion (Source: “Our Fluid Nation” report, 2021).
Project Objectives
Complex behaviours of Newtonian Taylor-Couette (TC) flow have attracted much attention from researchers in fluid mechanics for more than a century. However, there is still a gap in our understanding of non-Newtonian TC flow and its complex phenomena due to insufficient experimental results. This motivates the proposed research to address the following scientific questions: What kind of flow patterns are observed in TC flow in various non-Newtonian fluids (e.g. viscoelastic fluids, shear-thinning fluids, shear-thickening fluids, ferrofluids, and particulate fluids)? What are the characteristics of flow regimes (e.g. visual flow patterns, torque) observed in non-Newtonian TC flow?
To address these questions, our project has objectives to (1) measure rheological properties of non-Newtonian fluids and conduct the TC flow experiment with the high-precision rheometer, and (2) conduct detailed experimental investigation in the wide ranges of parameters such as Reynolds number and produce outputs such as the torque measurement.
Impact Statement
The proposed work is important as it can advance our knowledge of non-Newtonian flow physics and contribute to practical applications such as optimal control of rotating mixers or the development of turbulence models in multi-physics fluid and thermal simulations, which are commonly used in industry. The project has, therefore, the potential to bridge the gap between practical applications and fundamental fluid mechanics, which is the UK’s major research and innovation strength driving the economy with an output of £13.9 billion (Source: “Our Fluid Nation” report, 2021).
Outputs
The proposed work with the rheometer will generate new insights from experimental results, which will be disseminated by publication in a fluid mechanics journal (e.g. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics), or by presentation at an international conference (e.g. the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics annual meeting) to leading researchers in non-Newtonian fluid dynamics.
The proposed work will serve as the foundation for future research such as a fundamental research project on non-Newtonian turbulent flow, for which the funding will be sought from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) standard grant.
