Viscous incompressible fluid of uniform density is extruded axisymmetrically from a thin circular slit of small radius centred at the origin and lying in the plane z=0 in cylindrical polar coordinates r,θ,z. There is no external radial pressure gradient. It is assumed that the fluid forms a thin boundary layer, close to and symmetric about the plane z=0. The layer has thickness δ(r)≪r. The r-component of the steady Navier-Stokes equations may be approximated by
ur∂r∂ur+uz∂z∂ur=ν∂z2∂2ur
(i) Prove that the quantity (proportional to the flux of radial momentum)
F=∫−∞∞ur2rdz
is independent of r.
(ii) Show, by balancing terms in the momentum equation and assuming constancy of F, that there is a similarity solution of the form
ur=−r1∂z∂Ψ,uz=r1∂r∂Ψ,Ψ=−Aδ(r)f(η),η=δ(r)z,δ(r)=Cr
where A,C are constants. Show that for suitable choices of A and C the equation for f takes the form
−f′2−ff′′=f′′′;f=f′′=0 at η=0;f′→0 as η→∞;∫−∞∞fη2dη=1.
(iii) Give an inequality connecting F and ν that ensures that the boundary layer approximation (δ≪r) is valid. Solve the equation to give a complete solution to the problem for ur when this inequality holds.
[Hint: ∫−∞∞sech4xdx=4/3.]