The Shear-Driven Fluid Motion Using Oscillating Boundaries

A classical Stokes’ second problem has been known for a long time and represents one of the few exact solutions of nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. However, oscillatory flow in a semi-infinite domain of Newtonian fluid under harmonic boundary excitation only leads to fluid wind-milling back and forth in close wall vicinity. In this study, we are presenting the mathematical model and the numerical simulations of the Newtonian fluid and the shear-thinning non-Newtonian blood-mimicking fluid flow. Positive flow rates were obtained by periodic yet nonharmonic oscillatory motion of one or two infinite boundary flat walls. The oscillatory flows in semi-infinite or finite 2D geometry with sawtooth or periodic rectified-sine boundary conditions are presented. Rheological human blood models used were: Power-Law, Sisko, Carreau, and Herschel-Bulkley. A one-dimensional time-dependent nonlinear coupled conservative diffusion-type boundary layer equations for mass, linear momentum, and energy were solved using the finite-differences method with finite-volume discretization. It was possible to test the accuracy of the in-house developed computational programs with the few isothermal flow analytical solutions and with the celebrated classical Stokes’ first and second problems. Positive flow rates were achieved in various configurations and in absence of the adverse pressure gradients. Body forces, such as gravity, were neglected. The calculations utilizing in-phase sawtooth and rectified-sine wall excitations resulted in respectable net flow which stabilizes and becomes quasi-steady, starting from rest, after three to ten periods depending on the fluid rheology. It was assumed that rapid return stroke of the wall actuator resulted in total wall slip while forward wall motion existed with no-slip boundary condition. Shear “driving” and “driven” fluid regions were identified. The shear-thinning fluid rheology delivered many interesting results, such as pluglike flow. Constructive interference of diffusive penetration layers from multiple flat surfaces could be used as practical pumping mechanism in micro-scales.