Temporal asymptotics for the p’th power Newtonian fluid in one space dimension

The balance laws of mass, momentum and energy are considered for a pth power Newtonian fluid undergoing one dimensional longitudinal motions. For initial-boundary value problems involving fixed endpoints held at a prescribed temperature or insulated, we prove exponential convergence of solutions to equilibria for generic initial data. The estimates for different boundary conditions are presented in a unified manner by utilising the thermodynamic concept of availability.     

Numerical solution of the time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations by piecewise linear finite elements

In this paper we present a new method to solve the 2D generalized Stokes problem in terms of the stream function and the vorticity. Such problem results, for instance, from the discretization of the evolutionary Stokes system. The difficulty arising from the lack of the boundary conditions for the vorticity is overcome by means of a suitable technique for uncoupling both variables. In order to apply the above technique to the Navier–Stokes equations we linearize the advective term in the vorticity transport equation as described in the development of the paper. We illustrate the good performance of our approach by means of numerical results, obtained for benchmark driven cavity problem solved with classical piecewise linear finite element.     

Asymptotic stability of viscous contact discontinuity to an inflow problem for compressible Navier-Stokes equations

This paper is concerned with an initial-boundary value problem for one-dimensional full compressible Navier-Stokes equations with inflow boundary conditions in the half space R₊=(0,+∞). The asymptotic stability of viscous contact discontinuity is established under the conditions that the initial perturbations and the strength of contact discontinuity are suitably small. Compared with the free-boundary and the initial value problems, the inflow problem is more complicated due to the additional boundary effects and the different structure of viscous contact discontinuity. The proofs are given by the elementary energy method.     

On the finite element approximation of a cascade flow problem

Summary The finite element analysis of a cascade flow problem with a given velocity circulation round profiles is presented. The nonlinear problem for the stream function with nonstandard boundary conditions is discretized by conforming linear triangular elements. We deal with the properties of the discrete problem and study the convergence of the method both for polygonal and nonpolygonal domains, including the effect of numerical integration.     

Global smooth solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations with density-dependent viscosity

In this paper we study a free boundary problem for the viscous, compressible, heat conducting, one-dimensional real fluids. More precisely, the viscosity is assumed to be a power function of density, i.e., μ(ρ)=ρα, where ρ denotes the density of fluids and α is a positive constant. In addition, the equations of state include and are more general than perfect flows which only depend linearly on temperature. The global existence (uniqueness) of smooth solutions is established with for general, large initial data, which improves the previous results. Moreover, it is also shown that the solutions will not develop vacuum, mass concentration or heat concentration in a finite time provided the initial data are bounded and smooth, and do not contain vacuum.     

On shooting methods for the discrete Helmholtz equation with constant coefficients

Summary The paper is concerned with shooting solvers for the Helmholtz equation with constant coefficients in two dimensions using finite differences for the discretization. Dirichlet boundary conditions are treated though other conditions are possible. Beginning with a single shooting method some recursive multiple shooting methods are developed. It will be shown that the performance of the algorithms may be improved considerably by a redundance-free recursion. The number of operations required for one solution will be computed, but without preparing some matrices which do not depend on the boundary conditions and the inhomogenity. For a square withn×n points the number is of the orderO(n ²⁺⁽ⁿ⁾) with . The method will be compared with a multi-grid program and finally — as an example—a Stokes-solver and some numerical results with the shooting method are given.     

Similarity solutions for magneto-forced-unsteady free convective laminar boundary-layer flow

The group theoretic method is applied for solving problem of a unsteady free-convective laminar boundary-layer flow on a non-isothermal vertical plate under the effect of an external velocity and a magnetic field normal to the plate. The application of two-parameter transformation group reduces the number of independent variables, by two, and consequently the system of governing partial differential equations with the boundary and initial conditions reduces to a system of ordinary differential equations with appropriate corresponding conditions. The Runge–Kutta shooting method used to find the numerical solution of the velocity field, shear stress, heat transfer and heat flux has been obtained. The effect of the magnetic field on the velocity field and the Prandtl number on the heat transfer and heat flux has been discussed.     

Construction of a Lyapunov functional for 1D-viscous compressible barotropic fluid equations admitting vacua

The Navier-Stokes equations for a compressible barotropic fluid in 1D with zero velocity boundary conditions are considered. We study the case of large initial data in H¹ as well as the mass force such that the stationary density is uniquely determined but admits vacua. Missing uniform lower bound for the density is compensated by a careful modification of the construction procedure for a Lyapunov functional known for the case of solutions which are globally away from zero [I. Straškraba, A.A. Zlotnik, On a decay rate for 1D-viscous compressible barotropic fluid equations, J. Evol. Equ. 2 (2002) 69-96]. An immediate consequence of this construction is a decay rate estimate for this highly singular problem. The results are proved in the Eulerian coordinates for a large class of increasing state functions including p(ρ)=aργ with any γ>0 (a>0 a constant).     

Biomagnetic fluid flow over a stretching sheet with non linear temperature dependent magnetization

The flow of a heated ferrofluid over a linearly stretching sheet is studied in the pres- ence of an applied magnetic field due to a magnetic dipole. It is assumed that the applied magnetic field is sufficiently strong to saturate the ferrofluid and the variation of magnetization with temperature can be approximated by a non linear function of temperature difference. By introducing appropriate non dimensional variables the problem is described by a coupled and non linear system of ordinary differential equations with its boundary conditions which is solved numerically by applying an efficient numerical technique based on the common finite difference method. The obtained results are presented graphically for different values of the parameters entering into the problem under consideration and the dependence of the flow field from these parameters is discussed. A comparative study, with a similar problem which has already been solved and documented in literature, is also made wherever necessary, emphasizing the impor- tance of the non-linear variation of magnetization with temperature. Emphasis is also given in the obtained results for Prandtl number equal to 21 and critical exponent = 0.368 which are important and interesting in Biomagnetic Fluid Dynamics.     

On some axial Couette flows of non-Newtonian fluids

The velocity fields corresponding to some flows of second grade and Maxwell fluids, induced by a circular cylinder subject to a constantly accelerating translation along its symmetry axis, are presented as Fourier-Bessel series in terms of the eigenfunctions of some suitable boundary value problems. These solutions satisfy both the associate partial differential equations and all imposed initial and boundary conditions. For α or λ → 0, they are going to those for a Newtonian fluid. Finally, for comparison, some diagrams corresponding to the solutions for the flow through a circular cylinder are presented for different values of t and of the material constants. Received: March 18, 2004; revised: October 28, 2004     

Convergence analysis of a conforming adaptive finite element method for an obstacle problem

The adaptive algorithm for the obstacle problem presented in this paper relies on the jump residual contributions of a standard explicit residual-based a posteriori error estimator. Each cycle of the adaptive loop consists of the steps ‘SOLVE’, ‘ESTIMATE’, ‘MARK’, and ‘REFINE’. The techniques from the unrestricted variational problem are modified for the convergence analysis to overcome the lack of Galerkin orthogonality. We establish R-linear convergence of the part of the energy above its minimal value, if there is appropriate control of the data oscillations. Surprisingly, the adaptive mesh-refinement algorithm is the same as in the unconstrained case of a linear PDE—in fact, there is no modification near the discrete free boundary necessary for R-linear convergence. The arguments are presented for a model obstacle problem with an affine obstacle χ and homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. The proof of the discrete local efficiency is more involved than in the unconstrained case. Numerical results are given to illustrate the performance of the error estimator.     

On the modeling and simulation of boundary flow through partially open pipe ends

The determination of boundary conditions for the Euler equations of gas dynamics in a pipe with partially open pipe ends is considered. The boundary problem is formulated in terms of the exact solution of the Riemann problem and of the St. Venant equation for quasi-steady flow so that a pressure-driven calculation of boundary conditions is defined. The resulting set of equations is solved by a Newton scheme. The proposed algorithm is able to solve for all inflow and outflow situations including choked and supersonic flow.Received: August 7, 2002; revised: November 11, 2002     

Flow past a porous approximate spherical shell

In this paper, the creeping flow of an incompressible viscous liquid past a porous approximate spherical shell is considered. The flow in the free fluid region outside the shell and in the cavity region of the shell is governed by the Navier–Stokes equation. The flow within the porous annulus region of the shell is governed by Darcy’s Law. The boundary conditions used at the interface are continuity of the normal velocity, continuity of the pressure and Beavers and Joseph slip condition. An exact solution for the problem is obtained. An expression for the drag on the porous approximate spherical shell is obtained. The drag experienced by the shell is evaluated numerically for several values of the parameters governing the flow.     

Long-time stability of large-amplitude noncharacteristic boundary layers for hyperbolic–parabolic systems

Extending investigations of Yarahmadian and Zumbrun in the strictly parabolic case, we study time-asymptotic stability of arbitrary (possibly large) amplitude noncharacteristic boundary layers of a class of hyperbolic–parabolic systems including the Navier–Stokes equations of compressible gas, and magnetohydrodynamics with inflow or outflow boundary conditions, establishing that linear and nonlinear stability are both equivalent to an Evans function, or generalized spectral stability, condition. The latter is readily checkable numerically, and analytically verifiable in certain favorable cases; in particular, it has been shown by Costanzino, Humpherys, Nguyen, and Zumbrun to hold for sufficiently large-amplitude layers for isentropic ideal gas dynamics, with general adiabiatic index γ?1. Together with these previous results, our results thus give nonlinear stability of large-amplitude isentropic boundary layers, the first such result for compressive (“shock-type”) layers in other than the nearly-constant case. The analysis, as in the strictly parabolic case, proceeds by derivation of detailed pointwise Green function bounds, with substantial new technical difficulties associated with the more singular, hyperbolic behavior in the high-frequency/short time regime.     

Compressible perturbation of Poiseuille type flow

The paper examines the issue of stability of Poiseuille type flows in regime of compressible Navier–Stokes equations in a three dimensional finite pipe-like domain. We prove the existence of stationary solutions with inhomogeneous Navier slip boundary conditions admitting nontrivial inflow condition in the vicinity of constructed generic flows. Our techniques are based on an application of a modification of the Lagrangian coordinates. Thanks to such an approach we are able to overcome difficulties coming from hyperbolicity of the continuity equation, constructing a maximal regularity estimate for a linearized system and applying the Banach fixed point theorem.     

Global weak solutions for a viscous liquid–gas model with transition to single-phase gas flow and vacuum

This work deals with a viscous two-phase liquid–gas model relevant to the flow in wells and pipelines. The liquid is treated as an incompressible fluid whereas the gas is assumed to be polytropic. The model is rewritten in terms of Lagrangian coordinates and is studied in a free boundary setting where the liquid and gas masses are of compact support initially, and continuous at the boundary. Consequently, the initial masses involve a transition to single-phase gas flow and vacuum at the boundary. An appropriate balance between pressure and viscous forces is identified which allows obtaining pointwise upper and lower estimates of masses. These estimates rely on the assumption of a certain relation between the rate of degeneracy of the viscosity coefficient and the rate that determines how fast the initial masses are vanishing at the boundary. By combining these estimates with basic energy type of estimates, higher order regularity estimates are obtained. The existence of global weak solutions is then proved by showing compactness for a class of semi-discrete approximations.     

Slip at the surface of a sphere translating perpendicular to a plane wall in micropolar fluid

The Stokes axisymmetrical flow caused by a sphere translating in a micropolar fluid perpendicular to a plane wall at an arbitrary position from the wall is presented using a combined analytical-numerical method. A linear slip, Basset type, boundary condition on the surface of the sphere has been used. To solve the Stokes equations for the fluid velocity field and the microrotation vector, a general solution is constructed from fundamental solutions in both cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems. Boundary conditions are satisfied first at the plane wall by the Fourier transforms and then on the sphere surface by the collocation method. The drag acting on the sphere is evaluated with good convergence. Numerical results for the hydrodynamic drag force and wall effect with respect to the micropolarity, slip parameters and the separation distance parameter between the sphere and the wall are presented both in tabular and graphical forms. Comparisons are made between the classical fluid and micropolar fluid.      

Analysis and finite element approximation of a Ladyzhenskaya model for viscous flow in streamfunction form

In this paper we consider a model for the motion of incompressible viscous flows proposed by Ladyzhenskaya. The Ladyzhenskaya model is written in terms of the velocity and pressure while the studied model is written in terms of the streamfunction only. We derived the streamfunction equation of the Ladyzhenskaya model and present a weak formulation and show that this formulation is equivalent to the velocity–pressure formulation. We also present some existence and uniqueness results for the model. Finite element approximation procedures are presented. The discrete problem is proposed to be well posed and stable. Some error estimates are derived. We consider the 2D driven cavity flow problem and provide graphs which illustrate differences between the approximation procedure presented here and the approximation for the streamfunction form of the Navier–Stokes equations. Streamfunction contours are also displayed showing the main features of the flow.     

Exact self-similar solutions of the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer system for power-law fluids

In a particular self-similar case, the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer system for an electrically conducting power-law fluid together with certain boundary conditions can be transformed into a boundary value problem for a third-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation, only whose (generalized) normal solutions possess the physical meaning of the original problem. Uniqueness, existence and nonexistence results are established for the problem. Representations are also given for all (generalized) normal solutions. The project was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (No. Z0511005) and NNSF of china(No. 10501037).