On the simulation of viscoelastic flow past a sphere using spectral methods (Q1205322)

The flow past a sphere in an infinite expanse of viscoelastic fluid is simulated numerically using a pseudospectral technique. The problem is formulated using primitive variables. A time-splitting scheme is used that ensures that the velocity field is divergence-free at the end of each time step. The flow domain is treated without truncation using rational Chebyshev polynomials as basis functions in the radial direction. The drag on the sphere is computed for a range of values of the non-dimensional elasticity Weissenberg number \(We\).