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Coil-Stretch Transition and the Break Down of Continuum Models

The breakdown of finite element (FEM) computations for the flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid around a cylinder confined between parallel plates, at Weissenberg numbers Wi = O(1), is shown to arise due to a coil-stretch transition experienced by polymer molecules traveling along the centerline in the wake of the cylinder. With increasing Wi, the coil-stretch transition leads to an unbounded growth in the stress maximum in the cylinder wake. Finite element computations for a FENE-P fluid reveal that, although polymer molecules undergo a coil-stretch transition in the cylinder wake, the mean extension of the molecules saturates to a value close to the fully extended length, leading to bounded stresses with increasing Wi. The existence of a coil-stretch transition has been deduced by examining the behavior of ultra-dilute Oldroyd-B and FENE-P fluids. In this case, the solution along the centerline in the cylinder wake can be obtained exactly since the velocity field is uncoupled from the stress and conformation tensor fields. Estimation of the number of finite elements required to achieve convergence reveals the in-feasibility of obtaining solutions for the Oldroyd-B model for Wi > 1.