文摘
We have analyzed peristaltic flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid in a curved channel. Assuming the flow to be incompressible, laminar and two-dimensional, the governing partial differential equations are reduced under long wavelength and low Reynolds number approximations into a single nonlinear ordinary differential equation in the stream function. Matlab built-in routine bvp4c is utilized to solve this nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The solution thus obtained is used to investigate the effects of curvature of the channel and Weissenberg number on important phenomena of pumping and trapping associated with peristaltic motion. It is found that for small values of Weissenberg number, the effects of curvature are dominant. However, for large values of Weissenberg number, viscoelastic effects counteract the effects of curvature and help the flow velocity and circulating bolus of fluid to regain their symmetry. Keywords Curved channel Peristalsis Wave frame Modeling Oldroyd-B fluid