This paper studies the behavior of second grade viscoelastic fluid past a cavity in a horizontal channel. The effects of Reynolds number, fluid elasticity and the aspect ratio of the cavity on the flow field are simulated numerically. The equations are converted into the vorticity and stream function equations. The solution is obtained by the finite difference method.
The behavior of viscoelastic fluids is quite different from the Newtonian fluid, due to the effects of fluid elasticity. Only one flow pattern appears when the Newtonian fluid past the cavity. However, three kinds of flow patterns appear while the viscoelastic fluids past the cavity by increasing Reynolds number from 20 to 300. The flow field is affected by the fluid elasticity as well as the aspect ratio of the cavity. The transitional flow pattern appears at lower Reynolds number as the higher elasticity fluid past the cavity with larger aspect ratio.
