Waves in an Inhomogeneous Tube with a Flowing Two-Phase Fluid

Abstract

Results of theoretical and mathematical justification of the problem on a pulsating flow of a two-phase barotropic bubbly fluid enclosed in an elastic semi-infinite cylindrical tube inhomogeneous along its length are presented. Linear one-dimensional equations are used. It is assumed that the tube is rigidly attached to the surrounding medium and therefore its displacement in the axial direction is absent. At infinity, the tube material is assumed to be homogeneous. To describe the pressure, flow rate, and displacement of the fluid, a pulsating pressure is given at the tube end. The problem stated is reduced to a singular Sturm-Liouville boundary-value problem, which in turn is reduced to a Volterra-type integral equation. This equation is solved by the method of successive approximations. By assuming that the corresponding potential is integrable, it is proved that these approximations converge to the exact solution of the problem. It is shown that this assumption also covers the very important practical case of piecewise inhomogeneity. For numerical realization, we consider a homogeneous tube with flowing water containing a small amount of bubbles. The effect of the volume content of bubbles on wave characteristics is revealed. In particular, it is stated that, for the oscillation regime selected, an increased bubble volume content decreases the wave velocity and considerably increases the flow speed (rate).