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Article
Analogy Between Thermodynamic Phase Transitions and Creeping Flows in Rectangular Cavities
Symmetry
  • Miron Kaufman, Cleveland State University
  • Petru S. Fodor, Cleveland State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2020
Disciplines
Abstract

© 2020, MDPI AG. All rights reserved. An analogy is found between the streamline function corresponding to Stokes flows in rectangular cavities and the thermodynamics of phase transitions and critical points. In a rectangular cavity flow, with no-slip boundary conditions at the walls, the corners are fixed points. The corners defined by a stationary and a moving wall, are found to be analogous to a thermodynamic first-order transition point. In contrast, the corners defined by two stationary walls correspond to thermodynamic critical points. Here, flow structures, also known as Moffatt eddies, form and act as stagnation regions where mixing is impeded. A third stationary point occurs in the middle region of the channel and it is analogous to a high temperature thermodynamic fixed point. The numerical results of the fluid flow modeling are correlated with analytical work in the proximity of the fixed points.

DOI
10.3390/sym12111859
Version
Publisher's PDF
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information
Miron Kaufman and Petru S. Fodor. "Analogy Between Thermodynamic Phase Transitions and Creeping Flows in Rectangular Cavities" Symmetry Vol. 12 Iss. 11 (2020) p. 1 - 9
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/petru_fodor/30/