Paper 2, Section II, 39A

Fluid Dynamics II | Part II, 2021

(a) Incompressible fluid of viscosity μ\mu fills the thin, slowly varying gap between rigid boundaries at z=0z=0 and z=h(x,y)>0z=h(x, y)>0. The boundary at z=0z=0 translates in its own plane with a constant velocity U=(U,0,0)\mathbf{U}=(U, 0,0), while the other boundary is stationary. If hh has typical magnitude HH and varies on a lengthscale LL, state conditions for the lubrication approximation to be appropriate.

Write down the lubrication equations for this problem and show that the horizontal volume flux q=(qx,qy,0)\mathbf{q}=\left(q_{x}, q_{y}, 0\right) is given by

q=Uh2h312μp\mathbf{q}=\frac{\mathbf{U} h}{2}-\frac{h^{3}}{12 \mu} \nabla p

where p(x,y)p(x, y) is the pressure.

Explain why q=(0,0,ψ)\mathbf{q}=\nabla \wedge(0,0, \psi) for some function ψ(x,y)\psi(x, y). Deduce that ψ\psi satisfies the equation

(1h3ψ)=Uh3hy\nabla \cdot\left(\frac{1}{h^{3}} \nabla \psi\right)=-\frac{U}{h^{3}} \frac{\partial h}{\partial y}

(b) Now consider the case U=0,h=h0\mathbf{U}=\mathbf{0}, h=h_{0} for r>ar>a and h=h1h=h_{1} for r<ar<a, where h0,h1h_{0}, h_{1} and aa are constants, and (r,θ)(r, \theta) are polar coordinates. A uniform pressure gradient p=Gex\nabla p=-G \mathbf{e}_{x} is applied at infinity. Show that ψArsinθ\psi \sim A r \sin \theta as rr \rightarrow \infty, where the constant AA is to be determined.

Given that ah0,h1a \gg h_{0}, h_{1}, you may assume that the equations of part (a) apply for r<ar<a and r>ar>a, and are subject to conditions that the radial component qrq_{r} of the volume flux and the pressure pp are both continuous across r=ar=a. Show that these continuity conditions imply that

[ψθ]+=0 and [1h3ψr]+=0\left[\frac{\partial \psi}{\partial \theta}\right]_{-}^{+}=0 \quad \text { and }\left[\frac{1}{h^{3}} \frac{\partial \psi}{\partial r}\right]_{-}^{+}=0

respectively, where []+_{-}^{+}denotes the jump across r=ar=a.

Hence determine ψ(r,θ)\psi(r, \theta) and deduce that the total flux through r=ar=a is given by

4Aah13h03+h13\frac{4 A a h_{1}^{3}}{h_{0}^{3}+h_{1}^{3}}

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