Paper 1, Section I, A
Part IB, 2012
Viscous fluid, with viscosity and density flows along a straight circular pipe of radius . The average velocity of the flow is . Define a Reynolds number for the flow.
The flow is driven by a constant pressure gradient along the pipe and the velocity is parallel to the axis of the pipe with magnitude that satisfies
where is the radial distance from the axis.
State the boundary conditions on and find the velocity as a function of assuming that it is finite on the axis . Hence, show that the shear stress at the pipe wall is independent of the viscosity. Why is this the case?