Pulsatile Blood Flow in a Channel of Small Exponential Divergence—Part II: Steady Streaming Due to the Interaction of Viscous Effects With Convected Inertia

Abstract

This paper describes a secondary streaming motion that appears during the pulsatile flow of a viscous, incompressible fluid through rigid circular channels having walls which diverge at a slow exponential rate. Arising primarily from the interaction of viscous effects with convected inertial effects, this steady streaming motion acts to continuously retard downstream flow near the wall surface and enhance such flow nearer midstream. The secondary flow phenomenon is shown to be directly proportional to mean Reynolds Number, inversely proportional to the unsteadiness parameter of the flow, and to attenuate with decreasing rates of channel divergence. These effects are all self-consistent and interdependent.