Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2025 / iii / Paper 352 / 2 / a / Solution

Write the velocity gradient aswhere $\mathbf{\Omega }$ is the spin tensor. Expanding the upper-convected derivative in the structure equation givesFor $\xi =0$, the first four terms reproduce the upper-convected derivative. Settingtherefore givesWith polymeric stress ${\mathbf{\tau }}_p=b_1\mathbf{\alpha }$, this is the Oldroyd-B model. For $c_1>0$, its relaxation time and polymer viscosity areIndeed the total stress obeys

For $\xi =2$, the coefficient of
$\dot{\mathbf{\gamma }}\mathbf{\alpha }+\mathbf{\alpha }\dot{\mathbf{\gamma }}$
is $+1/2$, so the objective derivative becomes the lower-convected derivative. Hencerecovers the Oldroyd-A model, again with $c_1>0$ for a finite positive relaxation time. Parameter choices such as $b_1{c}_2=0$ give the degenerate Newtonian limit.