The effect of the slip boundary condition on the flow of fluids in a channel

Abstract

The assumption that a liquid adheres to a solid boundary (“no-slip” boundary condition) is one of the central tenets of the Navier-Stokes theory. However, there are situations wherein this assumption does not hold. In this paper we investigate the consequences of slip at the wall on the flow of a linearly viscous fluid in a channel. Usually, the slip is assumed to depend on the shear stress at the wall. However, a number of experiments suggests that the slip velocity also depends on the normal stress. Thus, we investigate the flow of a linearly viscous fluid when the slip depends on both the shear stress and the normal stress. In regions where the slip velocity depends strongly on the normal stress, the flow field in a channel is not fully developed and rectilinear flow is not possible. Also, it is shown that, in general, traditional methods such as the Mooney method cannot be used for calculating the slip velocity.