Comparative numerical study of two concentrated fiber suspension models

We consider two rheological models for concentrated fiber suspensions. In both models the equations for orientation and flow are fully coupled, i.e., the orientation influences the flow via a constitutive relation for the viscosity and the orientation of the fibers is determined by the flow field. The orientation state of the fibers is characterized by the Advani–Tucker orientation tensor. We are investigating suspensions of fibers in which the kinetic energies of the fibers are large compared to the thermal energies, i.e., the influence of Brownian motion may be neglected. The first model is the Folgar–Tucker model with backcoupling to the flow (FT model). The second model is an extension of Folgar–Tucker, which models phenomenologically the topological exclusion interaction in dense suspensions (FTMS model). As test cases for the simulation are considered channel flow, 8:1 contraction flow and flow around a cylinder.