Numerical simulation of swelling behavior of a droplet of polymer solution immersed in a solvent

Abstract

A formulation for simulating the kinematics of a droplet of polymer solution in solvent is proposed. In this formulation both polymer solution and solvent are characterized by Newtonian viscous fluids, the viscosity of polymer solution is much higher than that of solvent. Furthermore the effects of both osmotic pressure and friction force between polymers and solvent are considered. The deformation of a droplet is described by the convection equation of the volume fraction of polymer solution. Numerical simulations for a swelling and de-swelling problem of a polymer droplet in solvent are performed. The numerical results indicate that both the osmotic pressure and the friction force significantly affect the behavior of polymer droplet. © 2011 The Society of Rheology, Japan.