Asymptotic-analysis-inspired boundary conditions aiming at eliminating polymer diffusive instability

TL;DR

This paper introduces new boundary conditions inspired by asymptotic analysis to eliminate polymer diffusive instability in viscoelastic flow simulations, enhancing numerical stability without affecting other instabilities.

Contribution

It develops a novel set of conformation boundary conditions based on asymptotic analysis that effectively removes polymer diffusive instability in simulations.

Findings

New boundary conditions successfully eliminate PDI in simulations.

The approach maintains stability without impacting other flow instabilities.

Validation with Oldroyd-B and FENE-P models confirms effectiveness.

Abstract

The recent discovery of polymer diffusive instability (PDI) by Beneitez et al. (Phys. Rev. Fluids, 2023, 8: L101901) poses challenges in implementing artificial conformation diffusion (ACD) in transition simulations of viscoelastic wall-shear flows. In this paper, we demonstrate that the unstable PDI is primarily induced by the conformation boundary conditions additionally introduced in the ACD equation system, which could be eliminated if a new set of conformation conditions is adopted. To address this issue, we begin with an asymptotic analysis of the PDI within the near-wall thin diffusive layer, which simplifies the complexity of the instability system by reducing the number of the controlling parameters from five to zero. Then, based on this simplified model, we construct a stable asymptotic solution that minimises the perturbations in the wall sublayer. From the near-wall behaviour of this solution, we derive a new set of conformation boundary conditions, prescribing a Neumann-type condition for its streamwise stretching component, $c_{11}$, and Dirichlet-type conditions for all the other conformation components. These boundary conditions are subsequently validated within the original ACD instability system, incorporating both the Oldroyd-B and FENE-P constitutive models. Finally, we perform direct numerical simulations based on the traditional and the new conformation conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of the latter in eliminating the unstable PDI. Importantly, this improvement does not affect the calculations of other types of instabilities. Therefore, this work offers a promising approach for achieving reliable polymer-flow simulations with ACD, ensuring both numerical stability and accuracy.