On some unsteady flows of a non-Newtonian fluid

Abstract

Some properties of unsteady unidirectional flows of a fluid of second grade are considered for flows impulsively started from rest by the motion of a boundary or two boundaries or by sudden application of a pressure gradient. Flows considered are: unsteady flow over a plane wall, unsteady Couette flow, flow between two parallel plates suddenly set in motion with the same speed, flow due to one rigid boundary moved suddenly and one being free, unsteady Poiseuille flow and unsteady generalized Couette flow. The results obtained are compared with those of the exact solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. It is found that the stress at time zero on the stationary boundary for the flows generated by impulsive motion of a boundary or two boundaries is finite for a fluid of second grade and infinite for a Newtonian fluid. Furthermore, it is shown that for unsteady Poiseuille flow the stress at time zero on the boundary is zero for a Newtonian fluid, but it is not zero for a fluid of second grade.