Unsteady Flow Development Research Articles

Development of unsteady laminar flow of an incompressible fluid in a long circular pipe

An exact analytical solution for unsteady laminar flow in a long pipe is presented when the pressure gradient is an arbitrary function of time [ −1 ϱ ∂p ∂x = f(t)] . The method of integral transforms is used for the solution. The result is used to study the development of viscous flow in the pipe when subjected to a periodic pressure gradient. In particular the time elapsed before the flow velocity can be considered to vary periodically is investigated.