Fluid flow in fields of resistance

Abstract

The velocity profiles in volumes of either passive resistance or active transport are calculated for both linear and non-linear resistive models. These include fluid flows containing particles in a channel or pipe subject to either a steady or oscillatory pressure gradient, cilia induced transport, and laminar flow in a non-linear resistive shear layer. Resistive elements tend to substantially reduce the inertial phase lag component in oscillatory flows. Only small concentrations of particles are needed to reduce the flow field to the Darcy approximation. An ‘active porous media’ model for a cilia sublayer predicts accurate voleoity profiles for dense concentrations of cilia (for example, on Opaline, and in the lung).