Elongational flow of dilute drag reducing fluids in a falling jet

An elongational flow of dilute polymer solution in a falling jet was studied. Measurements were made of the stress and velocity distribution along the falling jet by means of a photographic technique. The results show that the relaxation time in dilute drag reducing fluids is much longer than those predicted in a simple shear flow, and suggest the possibility of using a very high value of the relaxation time in a wall turbulence model. Also, the increase in Trouton ratios determined for a simple elongational flow is possibly as high as 27 000.