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Analogy Between Thermodynamic Phase Transitions And Creeping Flows In Rectangular Cavities, Miron Kaufman, Petru S. Fodor

Physics Faculty Publications

© 2020, MDPI AG. All rights reserved. An analogy is found between the streamline function corresponding to Stokes flows in rectangular cavities and the thermodynamics of phase transitions and critical points. In a rectangular cavity flow, with no-slip boundary conditions at the walls, the corners are fixed points. The corners defined by a stationary and a moving wall, are found to be analogous to a thermodynamic first-order transition point. In contrast, the corners defined by two stationary walls correspond to thermodynamic critical points. Here, flow structures, also known as Moffatt eddies, form and act as stagnation regions where mixing is …