A numerical study of flow through wavy-walled channels

A numerical procedure is developed for the analysis of flow in a channel whose walls describe a travelling wave motion. Following a perturbation method, the primitive variables are expanded in a series with the wall amplitude as the perturbation parameter. The boundary conditions are applied at the mean surface of the channel and the first-order perturbation quantities are calculated using the pseudospectral collocation method. Although limited by the linear analysis, the present approach is not restricted by the Reynolds number of the flow and the wave number and frequency of the wavy-walled channel. Using the computed wall shear stresses, the positions of flow separation and reattachment are determined. The variations in velocity and pressure with frequency of excitation are also presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the interplay between inertial and viscoelastic effects for the flow in weakly modulated channels

The flow inside a spatially modulated channel is examined for viscoelastic fluids of the Oldroyd‐B type. The lower wall is flat and the upper wall is sinusoidally modulated. The modulation amplitude is assumed to be small. Thus, a regular perturbation expansion of the flow field coupled to a variable‐step finite‐difference scheme is used to solve the problem. Convergence and accuracy assessment against earlier experimental results indicate that there is a significant range of validity of the perturbation approach. The influences of wall geometry, inertia and viscoelasticity on the flow kinematics and stresses are investigated systematically. In particular, the interplay between the flow and fluid parameters effects on the conditions for the onset of backflow, number of vortices, their size and location is revealed. The distance between the flow separation and reattachment locations identifies the vortex size. Non‐monotonic dependence of the vortex size on elasticity is reported. The critical conditions for the onset of negative elasticity effects on vortex size are identified. The critical Reynolds number for the onset of backflow initially decreases then levels off or even increases as elasticity increases. For highly elastic fluid and large enough Reynolds number, more than one vortex appear near the lower wall. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peristaltic flow of a Jeffrey‐six constant fluid in a uniform inclined tube

In this work, we studied the peristaltic flow of a Jeffrey‐six constant fluid in a uniform tube. The governing equations of the Jeffrey‐six constant fluid were simplified by using the assumptions of long wave length and low Reynolds number approximation. The simplified form of equations were solved using the perturbation, homotopy analysis and finite difference methods. The comparison of the three solutions are shown graphically. The variation of pressure rise and frictional forces with the different parameters were also examined numerically. Results are presented at the end of the article. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the validity of the perturbation approach for the flow inside weakly modulated channels

The equations governing the flow of a viscous fluid in a two‐dimensional channel with weakly modulated walls have been solved using a perturbation approach, coupled to a variable‐step finite‐difference scheme. The solution is assumed to be a superposition of a mean and perturbed field. The perturbation results were compared to similar results from a classical finite‐volume approach to quantify the error. The influence of the wall geometry and flow Reynolds number have extensively been investigated. It was found that an explicit relation exists between the critical Reynolds number, at which the wall flow separates, and the dimensionless amplitude and wavelength of the wall modulation. Comparison of the flow shows that the perturbation method requires much less computational effort without sacrificing accuracy. The differences in predicted flow is kept well around the order of the square of the dimensionless amplitude, the order to which the regular perturbation expansion of the flow variables is carried out. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection in a vertical channel

The problem of combined free and forced convective magnetohydrodynamic flow in a vertical channel is analysed by taking into account the effect of viscous and ohmic dissipations. The channel walls are maintained at equal or at different constant temperatures. The velocity field and the temperature field are obtained analytically by perturbation series method and numerically by finite difference technique. The results are presented for various values of the Brinkman number and the ratio of Grashof number to the Reynolds number for both equal and different wall temperatures. Nusselt number at the walls is determined. It is found that the viscous dissipation enhances the flow reversal in the case of downward flow while it counters the flow in the case of upward flow. It is also found that the analytical and numerical solutions agree very well for small values of ε.     

Shear‐thinning flow in weakly modulated channels

The steady flow inside a spatially modulated channel is examined for shear‐thinning and shear‐thickening fluids. The flow is induced by the translation of the lower plate. The modulation amplitude is assumed to be small. A regular perturbation expansion of the flow field is used, coupled to a variable‐step finite‐difference scheme, to solve the problem. Convergence and accuracy assessment against finite‐volume calculations indicates that there is a significant range of validity of the perturbation approach. The influence of the wall geometry, inertia and non‐Newtonian effects are investigated systematically. In particular, the influence of the flow and fluid parameters is examined on the conditions for the onset of separation, vortex size and location. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytic Approximate Solution for a Flow of a Second-Grade Viscoelastic Fluid in a Converging Porous Channel

The problem of a two-dimensional steady flow of a second-grade fluid in a converging porous channel is considered. It is assumed that the fluid is injected into the channel through one wall and sucked from the channel through the other wall at the same velocity, which is inversely proportional to the distance along the wall from the channel origin. The equations governing the flow are reduced to ordinary differential equations. The boundary-value problem described by the latter equations is solved by the homotopy perturbation method. The effects of the Reynolds and crossflow Reynolds number on the flow characteristics are examined.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF STEADY FLOW IN A COMPLIANT TUBE OR CHANNEL WITH TAPERED WALL THICKNESS

Flow through compliant tubes with linear taper in wall thickness is numerically simulated by finite element analysis. Two models are examined: a compliant channel and an axisymmetric tube. For verification of the numerical method, flow through a compliant stenotic vessel is simulated and compared to existing experimental data. Steady two-dimensional flow in a collapsible channel with initial tension is also simulated and the results are compared with numerical solutions from the literature. Computational results for an axisymmetric tube show that as cross-sectional area falls with a reduction in downstream pressure, flow rate increases and reaches a maximum when the speed index (mean velocity divided by wave speed) is near unity at the point of minimum cross-sectional area, indicative of wave-speed flow limitation or “choking” (flow speed equals wave speed) in previous one-dimensional studies. For further reductions in downstream pressure, the flow rate decreases. Cross-sectional narrowing is significant but localized. For the particular wall and fluid properties used in these simulations, the area throat is located near the downstream end when the ratio of downstream-to-upstream wall thickness is 2; as wall taper is increased to 3, the constriction moves to the upstream end of the tube. In the planar two-dimensional channel, area reduction and flow limitation are also observed when outlet pressure is decreased. In contrast to the axisymmetric case, however, the elastic wall in the two-dimensional channel forms a smooth concave surface with the area throat located near the mid-point of the elastic wall. Though flow rate reaches a maximum and then falls, the flow does not appear to be choked.     

Numerical prediction of fiber motion in a branching channel flow of fiber suspensions

Fiber orientation and dispersion in the dilute fiber suspension that flows through a T-shaped branching channel are simulated numerically based on the slender-body theory. The simulated results are consistent qualitatively with the experimental data available in the literature. The results show that the spatial distribution of fibers is dependent on the fiber aspect ratio, but has no relation with the volume fraction of fiber. The content ratio of fibers near the upper wall increases monotonically with an increasing Re number, and the situation is reverse for the region near the bottom wall. The orientation of fibers depends on Re number, however, the function of fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio is negligible. The fibers near the wall and in the central region of the channel align along the flow direction at all times, but the fibers in the other parts of the channel tend to align along the flow direction only in the downstream region.The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10372090) and Doctoral Program of Higher Education in China (20030335001)The English text was polished by Ron Marshall     

Experiments on the linear instability of flow in a wavy channel

The effects of wall corrugation on the stability of wall-bounded shear flows have been examined experimentally in plane channel flows. One of the channel walls has been modified by introduction of the wavy wall model with the amplitude of 4% of the channel half height and the wave number of 1.02. The experiment is focused on the two-dimensional travelling wave instability and the results are compared with the theory [J.M. Floryan, Two-dimensional instability of flow in a rough channel, Phys. Fluids 17 (2005) 044101 (also: Rept. ESFD-1/2003, Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 2003)]. It is shown that the flow is destabilized by the wall corrugation at subcritical Reynolds numbers below 5772, as predicted by the theory. For the present corrugation geometry, the critical Reynolds number is decreased down to about 4000. The spatial growth rates, the disturbance wave numbers and the distribution of disturbance amplitude measured over such wavy wall also agree well with the theoretical results.     

Linear stability of two-dimensional steady flow in wavy-walled channels

Linear stability of fully developed two-dimensional periodic steady flows in sinusoidal wavy-walled channels is investigated numerically. Two types of channels are considered: the geometry of wavy walls is identical and the location of the crest of the lower and upper walls coincides (symmetric channel) or the crest of the lower wall corresponds to the furrow of the upper wall (sinuous channel). It is found that the critical Reynolds number is substantially lower than that for plane channel flow and that when the non-dimensionalized wall variation amplitude is smaller than a critical value (about 0.26 for symmetric channel, 0.28 for sinuous channel), critical modes are three-dimensional stationary and for larger , two-dimensional oscillatory instabilities set in. Critical Reynolds numbers of sinuous channel flows are smaller for three-dimensional disturbances and larger for two-dimensional disturbances than those of symmetric channel flows. The disturbance velocity distribution obtained by the linear stability analysis suggests that the three-dimensional stationary instability is mainly caused by local concavity of basic flows near the reattachment point, while the critical two-dimensional mode resembles closely the Tollmien–Schlichting wave for plane Poiseuille flow.     

Mixed Convection in a Vertical Porous Channel

A numerical study of mixed convection in a vertical channel filled with a porous medium including the effect of inertial forces is studied by taking into account the effect of viscous and Darcy dissipations. The flow is modeled using the Brinkman–Forchheimer-extended Darcy equations. The two boundaries are considered as isothermal–isothermal, isoflux–isothermal and isothermal–isoflux for the left and right walls of the channel and kept either at equal or at different temperatures. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite difference method with Southwell–Over–Relaxation technique for extended Darcy model and analytically using perturbation series method for Darcian model. The velocity and temperature fields are obtained for various porous parameter, inertia effect, product of Brinkman number and Grashof number and the ratio of Grashof number and Reynolds number for equal and different wall temperatures. Nusselt number at the walls is also determined for three types of thermal boundary conditions. The viscous dissipation enhances the flow reversal in the case of downward flow while it counters the flow in the case of upward flow. The Darcy and inertial drag terms suppress the flow. It is found that analytical and numerical solutions agree very well for the Darcian model. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Numerical study of an inviscid incompressible flow through a channel of finite length

A two‐dimensional inviscid incompressible flow in a rectilinear channel of finite length is studied numerically. Both the normal velocity and the vorticity are given at the inlet, and only the normal velocity is specified at the outlet. The flow is described in terms of the stream function and vorticity. To solve the unsteady problem numerically, we propose a version of the vortex particle method. The vorticity field is approximated using its values at a set of fluid particles. A pseudo‐symplectic integrator is employed to solve the system of ordinary differential equations governing the motion of fluid particles. The stream function is computed using the Galerkin method. Unsteady flows developing from an initial perturbation in the form of an elliptical patch of vorticity are calculated for various values of the volume flux of fluid through the channel. It is shown that if the flux of fluid is large, the initial vortex patch is washed out of the channel, and when the flux is reduced, the initial perturbation evolves to a steady flow with stagnation regions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acoustic upwinding for sub‐ and super‐sonic turbulent channel flow at low Reynolds number

A recently developed asymmetric implicit fifth‐order scheme with acoustic upwinding for the spatial discretization for the characteristic waves is applied to the fully compressible, viscous and non‐stationary Navier–Stokes equations for sub‐ and super‐sonic, mildly turbulent, channel flow (Re_τ=360). For a Mach number of 0.1, results are presented for uniform (32³, 64³ and 128³) and non‐uniform (expanding wall‐normal, 32³ and 64³) grids and compared to the (incompressible) reference solution found in (J. Fluid. Mech. 1987; 177 :133–166). The results for uniform grids on 128³ and 64³ nodes show high resemblance with the reference solution. Expanding grids are applied on 64³‐ and 32³‐node grids. The capability of the proposed technique to solve compressible flow is first demonstrated by increasing the Mach number to 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 for isentropic flow on the uniform 64³‐grid. Next, the flow speed is increased to Ma=2. The results for the isothermal‐wall supersonic flows give very good agreement with known literature results. The velocity field, the temperature and their fluctuations are well resolved. This means that in all presented (sub‐ and super‐sonic) cases, the combination of acoustic upwinding and the asymmetric high‐order scheme provides sufficient high wave‐number damping and low wave‐number accuracy to give numerically stable and accurate results. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of mass transfer to micropolar fluid flow past a stenosed artery

A mathematical model of unsteady non‐Newtonian blood flow together with the mass transfer through constricted arteries has been developed. The mass transport refers to the movement of atherogenic molecules, i.e. blood‐borne components, such as low‐density lipoproteins from flowing blood into the arterial walls or vice versa. The flowing blood is represented as the suspension of all erythrocytes assumed to be Eringen's micropolar fluid and the arterial wall is considered to be rigid having cosine‐shaped stenosis in its lumen. The mass transfer to blood is controlled by the convection–diffusion equation. The governing equations of motion accompanied by the appropriate choice of the boundary conditions are solved numerically by Marker and Cell method and the results obtained are checked for numerical stability with the desired degree of accuracy. The quantitative analysis carried out finally includes the respective profiles of the flow‐field and the mass concentration along with their distributions over the entire arterial segment as well. The key factors, such as the wall shear stress and Sherwood number, are also examined for further quantitative insight into the flow and the mass transport phenomena through arterial stenosis. The present results show consistency with several existing results in the literature which substantiate sufficiently to validate the applicability of the model under consideration. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peristaltic motion of third grade fluid in curved channel

＂ Analysis is performed to study the slip effects on the peristaltic flow of non-Newtonian fluid in a curved channel with wall properties. The resulting nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed to a single ordinary differential equation in a stream function by using the assumptions of long wavelength and low Reynolds number. This differential equation is solved numerically by employing the built-in routine for solving nonlinear boundary value problems （BVPs） through the software Mathematica. In addition, the analytic solutions for small Deborah number are computed with a regular perturbation technique. It is noticed that the symmetry of bolus is destroyed in a curved channel. An intensification in the slip effect results in a larger magnitude of axial velocity. Further, the size and circulation of the trapped boluses increase with an increase in the slip parameter. Different from the case of planar channel, the axial velocity profiles are tilted towards the lower part of the channel. A comparative study between analytic and numerical solutions shows excellent agreement.     

An interpretation of the stability of a turbulent shear flow near a rough wall

A conventional, small perturbation, stability analysis has been applied to a fully developed turbulent shear flow in a parallel duct with rough walls. This is an attempt to detect the inherent state of flow stability to quasi-regular disturbances emanating from the surface roughness elements. The surface roughness is represented by the usual roughness Reynolds number; it is fed into the analysis through an assumed mean velocity profile valid between the viscous sublayer and the inner (wall) region. An eddy viscosity model is used to secure the equation closure and the final equation for the perturbation amplitude has been solved numerically using the techniques developed for the Orr-Sommerfeld equation.Within the domain of realistic flow conditions, and for a range of surface roughness amplitudes, a local minimum of stability in terms of the longitudinal wave number has been found. However, it is not implied that it is a minimum minomorum, as only a limited range of surface roughnesses has been tried.     

Buoyancy-Opposed Darcy’s Flow in a Vertical Circular Duct with Uniform Wall Heat Flux: A Stability Analysis

An analytical and numerical study is presented to show that buoyancy-opposed mixed convection in a vertical porous duct with circular cross-section is unstable. The duct wall is assumed to be impermeable and subject to a uniform heat flux. A stationary and parallel Darcy’s flow with a non-uniform radial velocity profile is taken as a basic state. Stability to small-amplitude perturbations is investigated by adopting the method of normal modes. It is proved that buoyancy-opposed mixed convection is linearly unstable, for every value of the Darcy–Rayleigh number, associated with the wall heat flux, and for every mass flow rate parametrised by the Péclet number. Axially invariant perturbation modes and general three-dimensional modes are investigated. The stability analysis of the former modes is carried out analytically, while general three-dimensional modes are studied numerically. An asymptotic analytical solution is found, suitable for three-dimensional modes with sufficiently small wave number and/or Péclet number. The general conclusion is that the onset of instability selects the axially invariant modes. Among them, the radially invariant and azimuthally invariant mode turns out to be the most unstable for all possible buoyancy-opposed flows.     

Heat transfer effects on the stability of low speed plane Couette-Poiseuille flow

The stability problem of low-speed plane Couette-Poiseuille flow of air under heat transfer effects is solved numerically using the linear stability theory. Stability equations obtained from two-dimensional equations of motion and their boundary conditions result in an eigenvalue problem that is solved using an efficient shoot-search technique. Variable fluid properties are accounted for both in the basic flow and the perturbation (stability) equations. A parametric study is performed in order to assess the roles of moving wall velocity and heat transfer. It is found that the moving wall velocity and the location of the critical layers play decisive roles in the instability mechanism. The flow becomes unconditionally stable whenever the moving wall velocity exceeds half of the maximum velocity in the channel. With wall heating and Mach number effects included, the flow is stabilized.     

Steady suspension flows into two-dimensional horizontal and inclined channels

In this study a model which was developed previously is used to theoretically investigate the steady flow of a particulate suspension into two-dimensional horizontal and inclined channels. The continuity equation for the fluid and the simplified two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are then solved together with a particle concentration equation. This latter equation is formulated by considering the balance between the particle flux due to gravity with the corresponding particle fluxes due to convection and shear-induced diffusion. The resulting coupled system of equations is solved numerically using a specialised finite-difference method. It is found, for the parameter range for flows of proppants in hydraulic fractures, that when the suspension enters the channel with a uniform velocity profile it almost instantaneously becomes parabolic. In addition, the effects of particle sedimentation are most dominant in the entrance region, but further downstream such effects are balanced as shear-induced particle diffusion becomes more important. It is also shown that the suspension flow depends critically on the choice of the parameters used, e.g. the ratio of the particle radius to the height of the channel.