The very slow flow of a Powell-Eyring fluid around a sphere

Abstract

The very slow flow of a Powell-Eyring type non-Newtonian fluid around a sphere is investigated by a variational technique. The result, a correction factor that is applied to the Stokes' equation, is given as a plot and as an equation which is empirically fit to the plot. Also, a comparison of the very slow flows of a simplified viscoelastic Oldroyd fluid and the Powell-Eyring fluid is made which indicates that in a certain restricted region of the very slow flows, both models give essentially the same results. The Oldroyd and Powell-Eyring model parameters are interrelated by forcing both models to fit the same tube flow viscosity data.