Analysis of a Reiner–Rivlin liquid sphere enveloped by a permeable layer

Abstract

The present article investigates the axisymmetric flow of a steady incompressible Reiner–Rivlin liquid sphere enveloped by a spherical porous layer using the cell model technique. The Brinkman-extended Darcy model is deployed for the porous medium hydrodynamics, and isotropic permeability is considered. The stream function solutions of the governing equations are obtained, which involves the Gegenbauer functions and the modified Bessel functions. An asymptotic series expansion in terms of the Reiner–Rivlin liquid parameter S has been employed to determine the expression of the flow field for the Reiner–Rivlin liquid. Boundary conditions on the cell surface corresponding to the Happel, Kuwabara, Kvashnin, and Cunningham models are considered. Analytical expressions are derived for dimensionless pressure, tangential stress, and the couple stress components using the method of separation of variables and Gegenbauer functions/polynomial. The integration constants are evaluated with appropriate boundary conditions on the inner and outer boundary of the porous zone with the aid of Mathematica symbolic software. Solutions for the drag force exerted by the Reiner–Rivlin fluid on the porous sphere are derived with corresponding expressions for the drag coefficient. Mathematical expression of the drag coefficient, pressure distribution, velocity profile, and separation parameter is established. On the basis of viscosity ratio, permeability parameter, dimensionless parameter, and the volume fraction, variations of the drag coefficient, velocity profiles, fluid pressure, and separation parameter (SEP) are investigated with their plots. The effects of the streamline pattern make the flow more significant for the Mehta–Morse when compared to the other models. Additionally, the mathematical expression of the separation parameter (SEP) is also calculated, which shows that no flow separation occurs for the considered flow configuration and is also validated by its pictorial depiction. This problem is motivated by emulsion hydrodynamics in chemical engineering where rheological behavior often arises in addition to porous media effects.