FLUENT 6.3 User's Guide - 8.4.

5 Viscosity for Non-Newtonian Fluids

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8.4.5 Viscosity for Non-Newtonian Fluids

For incompressible Newtonian fluids, the shear stress is proportional to the rate-of-deformation
tensor :

(8.4-14)

where

is defined by

(8.4-15)

and

is the viscosity, which is independent of

For some non-Newtonian fluids, the shear stress can similarly be written in terms of a nonNewtonian viscosity :

(8.4-16)

In general,

is a function of all three invariants of the rate-of-deformation tensor

in the non-Newtonian models available in FLUENT,

rate

only.

is related to the second invariant of

. However,

is considered to be a function of the shear

and is defined as

(8.4-17)

FLUENT provides four options for modeling non-Newtonian flows:

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power law
Carreau model for pseudo-plastics
Cross model
Herschel-Bulkley model for Bingham plastics
Note that the non-Newtonian power law described below is different from the power law
described in Section 8.4.2.

Note: Non-newtonian model for single phase is available for the mixture model and it is
recommended that this should be attached to the primary phase.
Appropriate values for the input parameters for these models can be found in the literature (e.g.,
[ 368]).

Power Law for Non-Newtonian Viscosity

If you choose non-newtonian-power-law in the drop-down list to the right of Viscosity, nonNewtonian flow will be modeled according to the following power law for the non-Newtonian
viscosity:

(8.4-18)

FLUENT allows you to place upper and lower limits on the power law function, yielding the
following equation:

(8.4-19)

where

, and

are input parameters.

is a measure of the average viscosity

of the fluid (the consistency index); is a measure of the deviation of the fluid from Newtonian
(the power-law index), as described below;
is the reference temperature; and
and
are, respectively, the lower and upper limits of the power law. If the viscosity computed from the
power law is less than
, the value of
will be used instead. Similarly, if the computed
viscosity is greater than
viscosity is limited by

, the value of
and

will be used instead. Figure 8.4.1 shows how

at low and high shear rates.

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Figure 8.4.1: Variation of Viscosity with Shear Rate

According to the Non-Newtonian Power Law
The value of

determines the class of the fluid:

Newtonian fluid
shear-thickening (dilatant fluids)
shear-thinning (pseudo-plastics)

Inputs for the Non-Newtonian Power Law

To use the non-Newtonian power law, choose non-newtonian-power-law in the drop-down list to
the right of Viscosity. The Non-Newtonian Power Law panel will open, and you can enter the
Consistency Index , Power-Law Index , Reference Temperature
, Minimum Viscosity
Limit

, and Maximum Viscosity Limit

value of

should be set to zero. If the energy equation is not being solved, FLUENT uses a

default value of

. For temperature-independent viscosity, the

=273 K in Equation 8.4-18.

The Carreau Model for Pseudo-Plastics

The power law model described in Equation 8.4-18 results in a fluid viscosity that varies with
shear rate. For
,
, and for
,
, where
and
are,
respectively, the upper and lower limiting values of the fluid viscosity.
The Carreau model attempts to describe a wide range of fluids by the establishment of a curve-fit
to piece together functions for both Newtonian and shear-thinning (
) non-Newtonian laws.
In the Carreau model, the viscosity is

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(8.4-20)

where
(8.4-21)

and the parameters

, and

are dependent upon the fluid.

is the time constant,

is the power-law index (as described above for the non-Newtonian power law),
zero by default, while

is the reference temperature at which

absolute temperatures and

and

and

is set to

and

are the

are, respectively, the zero- and infinite-shear viscosities,

is the activation energy. Figure 8.4.2 shows how viscosity is limited by

and

at low

and high shear rates.

Figure 8.4.2: Variation of Viscosity with Shear Rate

According to the Carreau Model
Inputs for the Carreau Model
To use the Carreau model, choose carreau in the drop-down list to the right of Viscosity. The
Carreau Model panel will open, and you can enter the Time Constant , Power-Law Index
Reference Temperature
, Zero Shear Viscosity
, Infinite Shear Viscosity
, and
Activation Energy

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Figure 8.4.3: The Carreau Model Panel

Cross Model
The Cross model for viscosity is

(8.4-22)

where

= zero-shear-rate viscosity
= natural time (i.e., inverse of the shear rate
at which the fluid changes from Newtonian to
power-law behavior)
= power-law index

The Cross model is commonly used when it is necessary to describe the low-shear-rate behavior
of the viscosity.
Inputs for the Cross Model
To use the Cross model, choose cross in the drop-down list to the right of Viscosity. The Cross
Model panel will open, and you can enter the Zero Shear Viscosity
, Time Constant , and
Power-Law Index

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Herschel-Bulkley Model for Bingham Plastics

The power law model described above is valid for fluids for which the shear stress is zero when
the strain rate is zero. Bingham plastics are characterized by a non-zero shear stress when the
strain rate is zero:

(8.4-23)

where

is the yield stress:

For

, the material remains rigid.

For

, the material flows as a power-law fluid.

The Herschel-Bulkley model combines the effects of Bingham and power-law behavior in a fluid.
For low strain rates (

), the "rigid'' material acts like a very viscous fluid with viscosity

. As the strain rate increases and the yield stress threshold,

, is passed, the fluid behavior is

described by a power law.

(8.4-24)

where

is the consistency factor, and

is the power-law index.

Figure 8.4.4 shows how shear stress (

) varies with shear rate (

) for the Herschel-Bulkley

model.

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Figure 8.4.4: Variation of Shear Stress with

Shear Rate According to the Herschel-Bulkley
Model
If you choose the Herschel-Bulkley model for Bingham plastics, Equation 8.4-24 will be used to
determine the fluid viscosity.
The Herschel-Bulkley model is commonly used to describe materials such as concrete, mud,
dough, and toothpaste, for which a constant viscosity after a critical shear stress is a reasonable
assumption. In addition to the transition behavior between a flow and no-flow regime, the
Herschel-Bulkley model can also exhibit a shear-thinning or shear-thickening behavior depending
on the value of .
Inputs for the Herschel-Bulkley Model
To use the Herschel-Bulkley model, choose herschel-bulkley in the drop-down list to the right of
Viscosity. The Herschel-Bulkley panel will open, and you can enter the Consistency Index ,
Power-Law Index , Yield Stress Threshold
, and Yielding Viscosity
.
Previous: 8.4.4 Composition-Dependent Viscosity for
Up: 8.4 Viscosity
Next: 8.5 Thermal Conductivity
Fluent Inc. 2006-09-20

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