A study on the unsteady flow in a helical pipe

A study on the unsteady low-frequency oscillatory flow in a helical circular pipe is carried out based upon the blood flow in vessels, using the method of bi-parameter perturbation. The second order perturbation results were obtained and the characteristics were analyzed at different time of the axial velocity, of the secondary flow, and of the wall shearing stress. Also done the analysis of above-mentioned variables that varied along with time and Womersley number. The results indicate that for a helical pipe, the torsion exerts the main influence on the distribution of secondary flow velocity, especially when the absolute value of axial press gradient is rather small. The severe variation of stream function takes place within a very short period, during which time the stream function develops from positive value to negative value and vice versa, while in most cases in a cycle, the variation is smooth. The wall shearing stress changes severely with theta too.