A Theoretical Analysis of the Influence of Rotation on Flow in a Tube Rotating about a Parallel Axis with Uniform Angular Velocity

Abstract

When fluid flows in a tube which rotates about an arbitrary axis, the presence of centripetal and Coriolis acceleration components modify the velocity and pressure fields which exist in the absence of rotation. Barua considered the case of an incompressible fluid flowing in laminar motion through a cylindrical tube which was rotating about an axis perpendicular to itself with uniform angular velocity. For distances well away from the tube entrance Barua illustrated that secondary flow in the r-θ plane occurred and that the axial velocity profile was distorted towards the leading edge of the tube. Since the pressure gradient along the tube is proportional to the gradient of the axial velocity profile at the tube wall the rotation thus has a consequential influence on the resistance to flow offered by the tube.