Power-law fluid flow in the entrance region between two parallel plates

Abstract

Flow of non-Newtonian fluids between parallel plates has many uses including heat transfer applications. Many non-Newtonian fluids can be categorized as pseudoplastic fluids. A broader category, power-law fluids, covers in addition dilatant and Newtonian fluids. Models for developing power-law fluid flow between parallel plates include computational and integral boundary layer methods. Most published studies include partial results and apply to one of the three categories. The present work addresses the three cases and exclusively shows the transition from developing to fully developed flow. In the inlet region, viscous effects are restricted to the boundary layer. The present approach is based on the inlet-filled region concept, and includes an additional zone, called filled region in which viscous effects are present in the whole region, with the flow asymptotically reaching the fully developed solution. The integral boundary layer method is used in both regions to solve for the flow. The results are found to be in good agreement with published Newtonian, pseudoplastic and dilatant fluid results for boundary layer thickness, centerline velocity, local friction factor, pressure drop profiles, and entrance region size. The present model is fundamentally analytical with minor computational work required.