An investigation of laminar radial flow between two parallel discs

Summary Experiments have been carried out to test recent theoretical predictions of the pressure distribution for laminar flow between parallel discs, including inertia effects. The experimental investigation covered the condition where the inertia effects were always completely dominant over the central region of the discs in contrast to other recent experimental work on the problem where the central injection diameter was considerably larger. The present experiments subject the theories to a stringent test, due to the dominance of the inertia effects, and it is found that the inertia effects predicted by the various theoretical analyses are significantly smaller than those shown by the experimental results. It is suggested that the theoretical approach requires further development before it will cover the conditions where the central injection diameter is small.Nomenclature r, y, cylindrical co-ordinates - u velocity in r direction - U_m mean velocity in r direction at radius r - density - coefficient of viscosity - Q volume flow per unit time - 2h gap between parallel discs - p static pressure - R r/h - P h³p/Q - R_e Q/h