Fluid Mechanical Aspects of Antisymmetric Stress

Abstract

Basic fluid mechanical concepts are reformulated in order to account for some structural aspects of fluid flow. A continuous spin field is assigned to the rotation or spin of molecular subunits. The interaction of internal spin with fluid flow is described by antisymmetric stress while couple stress accounts for viscous transport of internal angular momentum. With constitutive relations appropriate to a linear, isotropic fluid we obtain generalized Navier‐Stokes equations for the velocity and spin fields. Physical arguments are advanced in support of several alternative boundary conditions for the spin field. From this mathematical apparatus we obtain formulas that explicitly exhibit the effects of molecular structure upon fluid flow. The interactions of polar fluids with electric fields are described by a body‐torque density. The special case of a rapidly rotating electric field is examined in detail and the induction of fluid flow discussed. The effect of a rotating electric field upon an ionic solution is analyzed in terms of microscopically orbiting ions. This model demonstrates how antisymmetric stress and body torque can arise in ``structureless'' fluids.