2025/09/01 by Georg Rempfer, Chengkai Zhu, Rempfer, Georg +9
Chemical Engineering · Engineering · Materials Science · #Block Copolymer Self-Assembly #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films #Rheology and Fluid Dynamics Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.01327
openalex publication_date 2025/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Understanding the flow of complex media is relevant for a wide range of research fields and industrial applications. Several numerical approaches exist by which approximate solutions can be determined for the Stokes equations that describe microhydrodynamic flows at the continuum level. However, achieving efficiency and accuracy for an incompressible fluid remains challenging. Here, we present an algorithm for solving the Stokes equations for an Oldroyd-B fluid using Fourier transforms. We gain efficiency by leveraging the 'Fastest Fourier Transform in the West' (FFTW). We validate our approach for the well-characterized four-roll mill, which exhibits nearly singular points of stress at the extensional points of the flow. We capture this divergence and showcase the potential of our method. Future work will concentrate on active systems, the introduction of moving boundaries, and application to microfluidic devices.