We report experiments on spatiotemporal evolution of the velocity profiles in shear-banding wormlike micelles upon inception of the flow in a Taylor–Couette (TC) cell. Both moderately entangled and highly entangled solutions are considered over a broad range of fluid elasticity E. Fluid elasticity, E = Wi/Re, characterizes the relative importance of the elastic to inertial effects. For both moderately and highly entangled solutions, upon inception of the shear, and during the stress decay period, fluid moves in the opposite direction to that of the imposed motion in a subset of the gap beyond critical thresholds of elasticity and flow ramp up rate, which depend on the fluid entanglement density. Surprisingly, beyond a second critical threshold of the fluid elasticity, the transient backflow disappears in moderately entangled solutions, highlighting the importance of the micellar entanglement on transient evolution of the flow in shear banding systems. More interestingly, we report the formation of multibanded quasisteady velocity profiles under certain conditions of fluid elasticity and flow ramp up rate. The multibanded profiles are characterized by a low shear band near the inner cylinder, a high shear band in the middle of the TC gap, and another low shear band near the outer cylinder. Finally, we show that the apparent wall slip at the inner cylinder of the TC cell is more pronounced for highly entangled solutions and decreases as the fluid elasticity increases. Experimental observations are compared with the existing simulations of the Vasquez–Cook–McKinley model, and several suggestions are made for future simulations.

We investigate the effects of micellar entanglement number on the kinetics of shear banding flow formation in a Taylor–Couette flow. Three sets of wormlike micellar solutions, each set with a similar fluid elasticity and zero-shear-rate viscosity, but with varying entanglement densities, are studied under the startup of steady shear. Our experiments indicate that in the set with low fluid elasticity, the transient shear banding flow is characterized by the formation of a transient flow reversal in a range of entanglement densities. Outside of this range, the transient flow reversal is not observed. For the sets of medium and high elasticities, the transient flow reversals exist for relatively small entanglement densities and disappear for large entanglement densities. Our analysis shows that wall slip and elastic instabilities do not affect the transient flow feature. We identify a correlation between micellar entanglement number, the width of the stress plateau, and the extent of the transient flow reversal. As the micellar entanglement number increases, the width of the stress plateau first increases; then, at a higher micellar entanglement number, the plateau width decreases. Therefore, we hypothesize that the transient flow reversal is connected to the micellar entanglement number through the width of the stress plateau.

We investigate the flow evolution of a linear and a branched wormlike micellar solution with matched rheology in a Taylor-Couette (TC) cell using a combination of particle-tracking velocimetry, birefringence, and...

We investigate the effects of micellar entanglement density on the kinetics of shear banding flow formation in a Taylor-Couette flow via a combination of experiments and simulations of the Vasquez-Cook-McKinley (VCM) model. In experiments, three sets of wormlike micellar solutions, each set with a similar fluid elasticity and zero-shearrate viscosity, but with varying entanglement densities, are studied under start-up of steady shear. Our experiments indicate that in the set with the low fluid elasticity, the transient shear banding flow is characterized by the formation of a transient flow reversal in a range of entanglement densities. Outside of this range, the transient flow reversal is not observed. For the sets of medium and high elasticities, the transient flow reversals exist for relatively small entanglement densities, and disappear for large entanglement densities. Our analysis shows that wall slip and elastic instabilities do not affect this transient flow feature. Consistent with experiments, simulations of the VCM model predict that as the micellar entanglement density increases, the strength of the transient flow reversal first increases, then, at a higher entanglement density, the transient flow reversal weakens. We identify a correlation between micellar entanglement density, the width of the stress plateau, and the extent of the transient flow reversal. As the micellar entanglement density increases, the width of the stress plateau first increases, then, at a higher micellar entanglement density, plateau width decreases. Therefore, we hypothesize that the transient flow reversal is connected to the micellar entanglement density through the width of the stress plateau.

We investigate the flow evolution of a linear and a branched wormlike micellar solution with matched rheology in a Taylor-Couette (TC) cell using a combination of particle-tracking velocimetry, birefringence, and turbidity measurements. Both solutions exhibit a stress plateau within a range of shear rates. Under startup of a steady shear rate flow within the stress plateau, both linear and branched samples exhibit strong transient shear thinning flow profiles. However, while the flow of the linear solution evolves to a banded structure at longer times, the flow of the branched solution transitions to a curved velocity profile with no evidence of shear banding. Flow-induced birefringence measurements indicate transient birefringence banding with strong micellar alignment in the high shear band for the linear solution. The transient flow-induced birefringence is stronger for the branched system at an otherwise identical Wi. At longer times, the birefringence bands are replaced by a chaotic flow reminiscent of elastic instabilities. Visualization of the flow-induced turbidity in the velocity gradient-vorticity plane reveals quasi-steady banding with a turbidity contrast between high and low shear bands in the linear solution. However, the turbidity evolves uniformly within the gap of the TC cell for the branched solution, corroborating the non-banded quasi-steady velocimetry results. Finally, we show that while elastic instabilities in the linear solution emerge in the high shear band, the flow of branched solution at high Wi becomes unstable due to end effects, with growing end regions that ultimately span the entire axial length of the TC cell.