Abstract

In this work, we revisit the seminal work of Renardy [M. Renardy, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 52(1), 91–95 (1994)] on the reformulation of the stress tensor in its “natural” basis and present a generic framework for the natural-conformation tensor for a large class of differential constitutive models. We show that the proposed dyadic transformation can be equated as an orthogonal transformation of the conformation tensor into a streamlined orthonormal basis given by a rotation tensor expressed in terms of the unit velocity vectors. We also show that the natural-conformation tensor formulation is a particular sub-case of the kernel-conformation tensor transformation [A. M. Afonso, F. T. Pinho, M. A. Alves, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 167–168, 30–37 (2012)] with the kernel function acting on the rotation of the eigenvectors rather than on the magnitude of the extension of the conformation tensor.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111706
JournalPhysics of Fluids
Volume37
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2025

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article.

Funding

A. M. Afonso acknowledges FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for financial support through Nos. LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE), UIDB/00532/2020, UIDP/00532/2020 (CEFT), and UID/532/2025, funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). J. D. Evans would like to acknowledge support from FAPESP-SPRINT Grant No. 2018/22242-0 and thank the University of Bath for sabbatical leave in 2023-2024. I. L. Palhares Junior would like to acknowledge support from FAPESP – CEPID/CeMEAI Grant No. 2013/07375-0, FAPESP – SPRINT Grant No. 2024/01651-0, and FAPESP – ANR Grant No. 2024/04769-1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computational Mechanics
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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