Evolution and Motion of Non-Newtonian Liquid Drops Ejected from a Nozzle in a Newtonian Medium Inside a Microchannel
Authors :- Goyal S.; Kumar A.; Tripathi S.
Publication :- Proceedings of Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power (FMFP) 2023, Vol. 2. FMFP 2023. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Springer, 2025
Drops produced from a nozzle are employed in a variety of industrial applications, including inkjet printing, spray cooling, emulsion production, 3D micro-printing, and others. In this work, the classical problem of flow of ink ejected from a nozzle is considered. The droplets of power law fluids, with power law indices 0.8, 1, and 1.2, are generated inside a chamber filled with Newtonian fluid. The droplet generation, necking, breaking, and travel in a Newtonian medium are explored through computational studies using ANSYS FLUENT. The pressure and velocity variations along the centerline are analyzed. The droplet position with time is estimated using image analysis. It is observed that a droplet of shear-thinning fluid not only travels faster compared to Newtonian or shear-thickening fluid but also considerably deformed and elongated during motion.