Abstract
The hydrodynamic lift force that polymers experience near boundaries is known to be a crucial element when considering rheological flows of dilute polymer solutions. Here we develop a theory to describe the hydrodynamic lift force on extended polymers flowing near flat surfaces. The lift force is shown to display a non-monotonic character increasing linearly with the distance to the wall Z in the near-surface regime defined as Z < L, with L being the contour length of the polymer. At heights Z ∼ L the lift force displays a maximum, and for Z > L we recover the well-known far-field result in which the force decays as Z -2. Our analytical theory has important implications in understanding adsorption, desorption, and depletion layers of highly extended objects in flow.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 48001 |
Journal | Europhysics Letters |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)