Acta Mechanica 190, 233–236 (2007)

DOI 10.1007/s00707-006-0428-2
Printed in The Netherlands
Acta Mechanica

Note

Note on an exact solution for the pipe flow

of a third-grade fluid
T. Hayat, Islamabad, Pakistan, and F. M. Mahomed, Johannesburg, South Africa

Received July 22, 2006; revised November 21, 2006

Published online: January 25, 2007 Ó Springer-Verlag 2007

Summary. We obtain a new exact power law solution for the pipe flow of a third-grade fluid. Moreover,
we provide general analytical expressions from which all previous known solutions can be constructed.

1 Flow analysis

The studies of flows of non-Newtonian fluids [1]–[5] have received much attention because the
governing equations in a non-Newtonian fluid are highly complicated, higher order and dif-
ferent from those of a Newtonian fluid. Recently, Yürüsoy and Pakdemirli [6] obtained per-
turbation solutions of the non-dimensional form of the equations of motion of a third-grade
fluid in a pipe with heat transfer. These equations were previously derived by Massoudi and
Christie [7] and are of the form




dl dv l dv d2 v K dv 2 dv d2 v
þ þr 2 þ þ 3r 2 ¼ C; ð1Þ
dr dr r dr dr r dr dr dr

2 "
2 #
d2 h 1 dh dv dv
þ þC lþK ¼ 0; ð2Þ
dr2 r dr dr dr

dvð0Þ dhð0Þ
vð1Þ ¼ 0 ¼ hð1Þ; ¼0¼ : ð3Þ
dr dr
The dimensionless variables of Eqs. (1) and (2) are the radius r (0 < r < 1), the velocity v and
the temperature h. The quantity lðrÞ is the dimensionless viscosity. These variables and
functions are related to the dimensional counterparts via
v 
h
hw r l

v¼ ; h¼ ; r¼ ; l¼ ; ð4Þ
V0 hm
hw R l0
where V0 is the reference velocity, 
hm is the bulk mean fluid temperature, 
h is the pipe tem-
perature, R is the radius of the pipe and l0 is the reference viscosity. The dimensionless
parameters in Eqs. (1) and (2) are
234 T. Hayat and F. M. Mahomed

C1 R2 @p l V2 b3 V02
C¼ ; C1 ¼ ; C ¼   0  ; K¼ ; ð5Þ
l V0 @z k hm
hw l R2
in which C1 is the pressure drop in the axial direction, C is related to the Prandtl and Eckert
number, K is the dimensionless non-Newtonian viscosity, l ¼ l0 ehw and k is the thermal con-
ductivity. Massoudi and Christie ½7 gave numerical solutions for the constant viscosity model,
Reynold’s viscosity model and Vogel’s viscosity model. The perturbation solutions for these
three cases were given in Yürüsoy and Pakdemirli ½6 who compared their results with the finite
difference solutions of Massoudi and Christie ½7: In this work, we give exact solutions of Eqs. (1)
and (2). Moreover, we present an exact solution of Eqs. (1), (2) and (3) for a power law viscosity
model which is new and has not been treated from a numerical or perturbation viewpoint.

2 Three-parameter solutions of Eqs. (1) and (2)

Equation (1) upon multiplication of r has the first integral

3 !
dv dv r2
r l þK
C ¼ D; ð6Þ
dr dr 2

where D is constant. The boundary condition dv=drð0Þ ¼ 0 implies that D ¼ 0. Thus, we are
left with the cubic equation

3
dv dv r
K þl ¼ C: ð7Þ
dr dr 2
The substitution of Eq. (7) into Eq. (2) yields the equation
d2 h 1 dh r dv
þ þ CC ¼ 0: ð8Þ
dr2 r dr 2 dr
We multiply Eq. (8) by r: Then we obtain the first integral
Z
dh r2
r þ CCv
CC rvdr ¼ E; ð9Þ
dr 2
where E is constant. We have two first integrals (6) and (9). Once we have v as a function of r
from Eq. (7), we can determine h as a function of r via Eq. (9). We can find dv=dr from (7) and
it is
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi v ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u u
u 2 2 3 u
dv t rC 1 27r C K þ 16l
3
t rC 1 27r2 C2 K þ 16l3
3
¼ þ 3
þ
: ð10Þ
dr 4K 4 27K 4K 4 27K3
Note that this solution holds if the discriminant is positive. Otherwise one can appropriately
modify the cube root terms by x and x2 , where x3 ¼ 1. We also remark that the viscosity
is usually not explicitly dependent on the radial coordinate but implicitly is a function of it
via the temperature function. If viscosity is given as a function of the temperature, then
Eqs. (9) and (10) still apply as (6) remains a first integral of Eq. (1) in this case, too.
Hence we can obtain v as a function of r by means of a single quadrature from Eq. (10). Then
R R
h as a function of r requires the evaluation of two integrals, viz. rvdr and ð rvdrÞ=r, once
vðrÞ is known.
The solution of the boundary value problem (1), (2) and (3) requires the evaluation of three
integrals which depend on the viscosity l and the parameters C, K.
Pipe flow of a third-grade fluid 235

3 A simple power law viscosity model

In this Section we obtain the exact solution of Eqs. (1), (2) and (3) for a power law viscosity
model. This interesting case was omitted by Massoudi and Christie ½7 and Yürüsoy and
Pakdemirli ½6.
Let
l ¼ ar2=3 ; a > 0: ð11Þ
Then Eq. (10) becomes
dv
¼ r1=3 X; ð12Þ
dr
where we have, for simplicity, let
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi v ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u u
u C 1 27C 2 K þ 16a3 u 1 27C2 K þ 16a3
t3
tC
3
X¼ þ þ
: ð13Þ
4K 4 27K3 4K 4 27K3
Thus we have subject to vð1Þ ¼ 0
3 h i
v ¼ X r4=3
1 : ð14Þ
4
Note that dvð0Þ=dr ¼ 0 as we have imposed this from the outset, i.e., after Eq. (6).
The insertion of v from Eq. (14) into Eq. (9) results in
dh E 3
¼
CCXr7=3 : ð15Þ
dr r 5
Now dhð0Þ=dr ¼ 0 gives that E ¼ 0: Then the solution of Eq. (15) subject to hð1Þ ¼ 0 yields
9 h i
h ¼ CCX 1
r10=3 : ð16Þ
50
In conclusion, for the simple power law viscosity model (11), we have obtained the exact
solutions (14) and (16), where X is given by Eq. (13). This elegant solution was missed by
previous workers. Notwithstanding, we have presented analytic expressions for the solutions,
viz. Eqs. (9) and (10). All previous solutions obtained by numerical and perturbation methods
[6], [7] are contained in Eqs. (9) and (10).

Acknowledgments
F. M. Mahomed gratefully acknowledges a visiting professor awarded by the Higher Education
Commission of Pakistan and the Department of Mathematics of Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad
which has made this work possible.

References

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Mech. 43, 340–351 (2005).
236 T. Hayat and F. M. Mahomed: Pipe flow of a third-grade fluid

[3] Fetecau, C., Zierep, J.: On a class of exact solutions of the equations of motion of a second grade
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[4] Straughan, B.: Energy stability in the Benard problem for a fluid of second grade. Z. Angew. Math.
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Authors’ addresses: T. Hayat, Department of Mathematics, Quaid-i-Azam University 45320, Islamabad

44000, Pakistan; F. M. Mahomed, Centre for Differential Equations, Continuum Mechanics and
Applications, School of Computational & Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits
2050, Johannesburg, South Africa