Alterations in electroosmotic slip velocity: combined effect of viscoelasticity and surface potential undulation

TL;DR

This paper develops a modified electroosmotic slip velocity model for viscoelastic fluids in microchannels, accounting for surface potential undulation and fluid properties, enhancing computational efficiency in flow simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a new slip velocity formulation for viscoelastic fluids affected by surface potential undulation, extending the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski boundary condition.

Findings

Modified slip velocity depends on Deborah number and viscosity ratio.

Elasticity augmentation causes asymmetric slip velocity distribution.

Surface potential wavelength influences slip velocity magnitude and periodicity.

Abstract

In computational models of microchannel flows, the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski slip velocity boundary condition is often used because it approximates the motion of the electric double layer without resolving the charge density profiles close to the walls while drastically reducing the computational effort needed for the flow model to be solved. Despite working well for straight channel flow of Newtonian fluids, the approximation does not work well for flow involving complex fluids and spatially varying surface potential distribution. To treat these effects using the slip velocity boundary condition, it is necessary to understand how the surface potential and fluid properties affect the slip velocity. The present analysis shows the existence of a modified electroosmotic slip velocity for viscoelastic fluids, which is strongly dependent upon Deborah number and viscosity ratio, and this modification differs significantly from the slip velocity of Newtonian fluids. An augmentation of fluid elasticity results in an asymmetric distribution of slip velocity. Nonintuitively, the modulation wavelength of the imposed surface potential contributes to changing the slip velocity magnitude and adding periodicity to the solution. The proposed electroosmotic slip velocity for viscoelastic fluid can be used in computational models of microchannel flows to approximate the motion of the electric double layer without resolving the charge density profiles close to the walls.