Simulations of Fibre Orientation in Dilute Suspensions with Front Moving in the Filling Process of a Rectangular Channel Using Level Set Method

Abstract

The simulation of fibre orientation in dilute suspension with a front moving is carried out using the projection and level set methods. The motion of fibres is described using the Jeffery equation and the contribution of fibres to the flow is accounted for by the configuration field method. The governing Navier-Stokes equation for the fluid flow is solved using the projection method with finite difference scheme, while the fibre-related equations are directly solved with the Runge-Kutta method. Our findings indicate that the fibre motion has strong influence on the distributions of the streamwise and transverse velocities in the fountain flow. Fibre motion produces strong normal stress near the wall which leads to the reduction of transversal velocity as compared to the Newtonian flow without fibres and in turn the streamwise velocity near the wall is increased. Thus, the fibre addition to the flow weakens the strength of the fountain flow. It is also found that the fibre orientation is not always along the direction of velocity vector in the process of mold filling. In the region of the fountain flow, the fibre near the centerline is more oriented cross the streamwise direction comparing to that in the region far behind the flow front. This leads to that the fibre near the centreline in the region of fountain flow is more extended along the transverse direction. Since fibre orientation in the suspension flow and the shape of the flow front have great bearing on the quality of the product made from injection molding, this study has much implications for engineering applications. These results can also be useful in other field dealing with fibre suspensions.