Non-Newtonian fluid flow through a planar symmetric expansion: Shear-thickening fluids

The incompressible non-Newtonian fluid flow through a symmetric sudden expansion is studied numerically in order to obtain Reynolds number critical value. The Quadratic model is employed to accommodate the shear-thickening behavior of corn-starch and water mixture. Numerical procedure is validated with results for the Newtonian fluid flow in a range of the Reynolds number Re=10,20,…,100Re=10,20,…,100. Results for the non-Newtonian fluid show that the shear-thickening behavior lowers the threshold of the transition from flow symmetry to its asymmetry (lowers the onset of the bifurcation and the critical value of the Reynolds number) and increases the reattachment length. In addition, the results for the Quadratic model are compared to the results obtained with the Power law.