If you've made it here, then that means I can still do some HTML! Anyway, welcome to the section of my website regarding my PhD! Here you'll find information on talks I've given, stuff I've written and other generally cool stuff about viscoelastic materials.
Firstly, these are my slides from my Transfer Talk in 2022. This focussed on the re-entrant corner flow of an upper convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid around a re-entrant corner. In case you're interested, this is how the talk ended.
Also in 2022, I spoke at an edition of the Postgraduate Student Seminar (PSS) series regarding the 'basics' of viscoelastic modelling. I returned to PSS just under a year later to give a modified talk introducing my work on re-entrant corners.
I've also spoken at the 2024 SAMBa Conference! This time, I spoke about my research on the re-entrant corner flow of a White-Metzner fluid. Here are the slides from that talk.
On the 10th of September 2024, I spoke at the UK Fluids conference in Swansea on my White–Metzner PhD work, Here are the slides!
Here is a list of my current publications, which are intended to contribute to my overall PhD!
Having properties of both viscous fluids and elastic solids means that viscoelastic materials can exhibit some really interesting effects. If you're interested, see below!
Also known as the rod climbing effect, this is due to additional stresses arising in a viscoelastic fluid when it is stirred. These stresses — which are called normal stresses — act in the direction of motion, causing a tension force which pulls the fluid towards the stirring rod. An example can be found here.
Another effect which is observed in viscoelastic fluids is die (or extrudate) swell. This is again due to the additional normal stresses arising as the fluid flows through a pipe. These stresses generate tension, which is relieved as the resulting fluid jet leaves the pipe. As a result, the diameter of the jet can expand to a width as much as three times the pipe diameter.
Particularly seen in polymeric fluids, this effect occurs when the fluid is stretched. In this deformation, the long-chain polymer molecules in the fluid are extended, which produces a large elastic force, which in certain cases is enough to overcome gravity and pull fluid out of a beaker!
In the Kaye effect, a jet of fluid poured onto a surface leaps on impact, rather than stagnating or coiling as one might expect. Current evidence suggests that this occurs due to the existence of an extremely thin air layer between the falling jet and the `heap' of fluid below it. This air layer acts as a lubricant, enabling the jet to slip. Viscoelasticity is said to reduce the pressure required to bend the jet (see here); therefore, enabling a larger air layer to be sustained and allowing jets to be supported for longer.