Electrohydrodynamic conduction phenomena of a viscoelastic dielectric fluid with electroelastic instability

In this paper, we present direct numerical simulations of viscoelastic fluid flow in a cavity with an ion conduction-driven mechanism. The flow patterns, oscillation amplitudes, force competition mode, and power-law spectral scaling accompanying oscillatory flow are examined. The dimensionless parameter β (elucidating the electric-field-enhanced dissociation) together with conduction number C0 determines the limiting operating regimes (ohmic and saturation). The results demonstrate that asymmetric unsteady flow patterns are observed in perfectly symmetric geometry. Different transition sequences are discussed under two operating regimes, by velocity oscillation and power-law decay. The commensurability magnitudes of the elastic stress and Coulomb forces significantly alter the convective mode, leading to discrepancies in the electroelastic instability paths. The kinetic and elastic energies of the associated driving parameters are quantified, and the flow patterns are divided into five subregions. The dynamic behavior above is related to the strong electroconvective flow within the heterogeneous charge layers.