CFD-Simulation-Based Multi-Axial Differential Mixing Enhancement Study for High-Viscosity Adhesives: From the Perspective of Breaking the Symmetry of the Flow Field

The synthesis of high-performance adhesives imposes stringent requirements on the design of stirred reactors: simultaneous achievement of efficient mixing and minimal energy dissipation in highly viscous media remains the principal challenge. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to solve the Navier–Stokes equations for the high-viscosity epoxy system and numerically simulating the flow fields of four representative reactor configurations across a prescribed range of rotational speeds. Specifically, the four representative reactor configurations were (i) single-serrated shaft, (ii) eccentric single-serrated shaft, (iii) uniaxial single-blade paddle combined with a single-serrated dual-axis assembly, and (iv) biaxial single-blade paddle coupled with a single-serrated triaxial assembly. The mixing performance was quantitatively assessed by systematically comparing the evolution of mixing speed, vorticity fields, restricted power consumption, and mixing time across a range of rotational speeds. The results demonstrated that the synergistic deployment of an eccentric impeller and a differential-speed single-propeller shaft effectively disrupted the axisymmetric flow pattern, compressed the chaotic isolation zones, and intensified both axial exchange and global chaotic mixing. Among the configurations examined, the uniaxial single-propeller–single-serrated biaxial arrangement reduced the mixing time by 13.43% and cut the specific energy consumption by approximately 58.32%, thereby attaining markedly higher energy efficiency. This research will provide guidance for the study of efficient mixing of adhesives.