Jeffery orbits in shear-thinning fluids

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a prolate spheroid in a shear flow of a shear-thinning Carreau fluid. The motion of a prolate particle is developed analytically for asymptotically weak shear thinning and then integrated numerically. We find that shear-thinning rheology does not lift the degeneracy of Jeffery orbits observed in Newtonian fluids, but the instantaneous rate of rotation and trajectories of the orbits are modified. Qualitatively, shear thinning has a similar effect to elongating the particle in a Newtonian fluid. The period of rotation increases as the particle slows down more when aligned with the flow due to a reduction in shear stresses. Unlike Jeffery orbits in Newtonian fluids, in shear-thinning fluids, the period of orbits depends on the specific trajectory (or initial orientation of the particle).