Paper 4, Section II, B
An incompressible fluid of density and kinematic viscosity is confined in a channel with rigid stationary walls at . A spatially uniform pressure gradient is applied in the -direction. What is the physical significance of the dimensionless number
Assuming that the flow is unidirectional and time-harmonic, obtain expressions for the velocity profile and the total flux. [You may leave your answers as the real parts of complex functions.]
In each of the limits and , find and sketch the flow profiles, find leading-order asymptotic expressions for the total flux, and give a physical interpretation.
Suppose now that and that the channel walls oscillate in their own plane with velocity in the -direction. Without explicit calculation of the solution, sketch the flow profile in each of the limits and .