Meccanica
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-018-00935-8 (0123456789().,-volV)
( 01234567
89().,-volV)
Viscous flow induced by plates moving in opposite
directions: a finite-breadth case
Chi-Min Liu
Received: 29 June 2018 / Accepted: 14 December 2018
Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract Ignited by and based on the studies (Liu in
Math Probl Eng 2008:754262, 2008; J Eng Math
89(1):1–11, 2014) on viscous flows generated by two
infinite-breadth plates moving in opposite directions,
which are also named as extended Stokes’ problems, a
finite-breadth case of Newtonian flow is examined in
present study. Solutions of both cases of infinite-depth
and finite-depth flows are separately derived. Main
mathematical methods including integral transforms
in time and spatial domains are applied to acquire the
exact solution of flow velocity. Based on the derived
solutions, evolution of velocity profiles in time as well
as in space, and velocity gradient are examined.
Solutions derived in past studies for the infinite-
breadth cases are verified to be limiting cases of
present results. Present study not only provides
mathematical methods for analyzing viscous flow
driven by moving boundaries, but also can be applied
to examine many practical applications such as flows
in mechanical manufacturing, flows induced by fault-
ing, and even heat-transfer problems.
Keywords Extended Stokes’ problem  Finite-
breadth plates  Integral transform
C.-M. Liu (&)
Division of Mathematics, General Education Center,
Chienkuo Technology University, Changhua City, Taiwan
e-mail: cmliu@ctu.edu.tw;
liu.chimin@gmail.com
1 Introduction
Very few problems in fluid mechanics can be math-
ematically solved to obtain exact solutions. They
usually are important bases and principles for exam-
ining advanced problems and practical applications.
Among these fundamental problems, Stokes’ prob-
lems firstly proposed by Stokes [3] play a crucial role
in studying viscous flows suddenly driven by moving
boundaries. According to the types of moving bound-
aries, Stokes’ first and second problems represent
flows driven by the plate moving at a constant speed
and with an oscillating motion, respectively. Solutions
and related analyses have been well studied and shown
in literatures (see [4–6] for example). By using the
Fourier analysis based on the solutions of Stokes’
problems, one can readily examine flows induced by
any kind of periodic motion of plates.
In 1995 Zeng and Weinbaum [7] extended tradi-
tional Stokes’ problems by re-considering the plate
below the fluid to be separated into two semi-infinite
plates that move in opposite directions. Viscous flow
driven by this new boundary condition is named as
extended Stokes’ problems. However, their steady-
state solutions cannot describe transient flow at early
stage. To this end Liu [1] re-studied the same problem
to derive the exact solution which includes the steady-
state and the transient components for describing flows
at any time stage. The case of finite-depth flow was
also examined in his study. This original paper was
123
 Meccanica

later entirely re-studied by Riccardi [8] with some 2 Flow in an infinite-depth domain
improvements. In addition to above studies for
Newtonian fluids, Liu [2] investigated the problem The problem considered in this section is depicted in
for Maxwell fluid. As the relaxation time which stands Fig. 1. The flow domain is infinite along x and z
for a rheological parameter of Maxwell fluid greatly coordinates. The fluid which occupies the upper y
complicated the analysis, some contour integrals were domain from y ¼ 0 to y ¼ 1 is at rest everywhere for
adopted to derive the exact solution. The derived time t  0. When t ¼ 0þ , two plates of equal breadth B
solution can be reduced to that of Newtonian fluid located at y ¼ 0 begin to move in opposite directions
[1, 8] by setting the relaxation time to be zero. along x coordinate with constant speed u0 . Plates
Different from traditional Stokes’ problems, as flow outside the region B  z  B remain motionless at
velocity in extended Stokes’ problems possesses two any time. Flow velocity is denoted as u and kinematic
spatial dependences and one temporal dependence, viscosity is represented as m. As the induced flow is
two integral transforms including the Laplace trans- anti-symmetric with respect to z, it implies that one
form in time domain and the Fourier transform in only needs to analyze the flow in positive z domain to
spatial domain are required to perform the analysis. In determine the solution for the whole z domain.
brief, applying integral transforms to the partial Accordingly, for the domain z  0, the corresponding
differential system is a standard and necessary proce- governing equation, boundary and initial conditions
dure for analyzing extended Stokes’ problems. for velocity uðy; z; tÞ are shown below
Because extended Stokes’ problems have very wide  2 
ou o u o2 u
applications in engineering and natural sciences such ¼m þ ; ð1:1Þ
as flows induced by either earthquakes or fracture of ot oy2 oz2
ice sheets [7], therefore the modification of boundary
uð0; z; tÞ ¼ u0 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð1:2Þ
conditions of moving plates to meet more real
situations and practical applications becomes an uð1; z; tÞ ¼ 0; ð1:3Þ
important issue. To this end, moving plates of infinite
breadth in aforementioned papers will be adjusted and uðy; 1; tÞ ¼ 0; ð1:4Þ
generalized to be of finite breadth. This modification
makes past studies [1, 8] as limiting cases of present uðy; z; 0Þ ¼ 0; ð1:5Þ
study. The organization of present paper is as follows.
where H(zÞ is the Heaviside step function. For the sake
Viscous flow induced by moving plates of finite
of satisfying the boundary condition at z ¼ 0, the
breadth in an infinite-depth fluid is analyzed in Sect. 2.
Heaviside step function is defined by
Velocity profiles and its gradient are examined. The

case for a finite-depth fluid is demonstrated in Sect. 3. 1; for z [ 0
HðzÞ ¼ : ð2Þ
Concluding remarks are made in Sect. 4. 0; for z  0
Due to the anti-symmetry of the flow in z, the flow
velocity at z ¼ 0 is zero
uðy; 0; tÞ ¼ 0; ð3Þ
which is also a boundary condition for present
problem. Now the Laplace transform
1
LðuÞ ¼ u^ðy; z; sÞ  r est uðy; z; tÞdt; ð4Þ
0

is applied to Eqs. (1) and (3). The results are

s o2 u^ o2 u^
u^ ¼ 2 þ 2 ; ð5:1Þ
m oy oz
Fig. 1 Definition sketch for the infinite-depth case

123
Meccanica

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi !  
u0 ea sþb2
1 ab a pffi
u^ð0; z; sÞ ¼ ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð5:2Þ L1
¼ e Erfc pffi  b t
s s 2 2 t
 
u^ð1; z; sÞ ¼ 0; ð5:3Þ 1 ab a pffi
þ e Erfc pffi þ b t ; ð11Þ
2 2 t
u^ðy; 1; sÞ ¼ 0; ð5:4Þ
where Erfc(:Þ denotes the complementary error func-
u^ðy; 0; sÞ ¼ 0: ð5:5Þ tion. The corresponding results are
Next, the Fourier sine transform defined as Zt  
1 u0 yF ðxÞ 1:5 2 y2
Z1 L ðu~Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi s exp mx s  ds;
2 pm 4sm
Fs ðu^Þ ¼ u~ðy; x; sÞ  sin xz  u^ðy; z; sÞdz; ð6Þ 0

0
ð12Þ

is applied to Eq. (5) to transform the z-space to the x- or

space. It results in u0
L1 ðu~Þ ¼ F ðxÞ  G1 ðy; x; tÞ; ð13Þ
 2
2
o u~ 2 s
 x þ u~ ¼ 0; ð7:1Þ where
oy2 m
 
u0 xy y pffiffiffiffi
u~ð0; x; sÞ ¼  F ðxÞ; ð7:2Þ G1 ðy; x; tÞ ¼ e  Erfc pffiffiffiffi  x mt þ exy
s  2 mt 
y pffiffiffiffi
u~ð1; x; sÞ ¼ 0; ð7:3Þ  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ x mt :
2 mt
where ð14Þ

1  cos Bx Now we apply the inverse Fourier sine transform to

F ðx Þ ¼ ; ð8Þ Eqs. (12) and (13), the flow velocity is solved to be
x
represents the effects of moving boundaries on the Zt
1 u0 y
flow. From Eq. (7) the solution to u~ is readily solved to u¼ F1
s L ðu~Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi G2 ðy; z; sÞ  s1:5 ds;
4 pm
be 0
 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð15Þ
u0 s
u~ ¼  F ðxÞ  exp y x2 þ : ð9Þ
s m or
1
It is specified that the square root of the complex u ¼ F1
s L ðu ~Þ
number s=m þ x2 which has a positive real part is Z1
u0
chosen in its principal branch. In particular, due to the ¼ sin xz  F ðxÞ  G1 ðy; x; tÞdx; ð16Þ
p
fact that  p=2\ arg(s=m þ x2 Þ\p=2, the principal 0
branch of the square root has argument in
ð p=4; þp=4Þ. To calculate the inversion of u~, it where
requires to perform both spatial and temporal inverse  2
y
integral transforms. We now firstly apply the inverse G2 ðy; z; sÞ ¼ exp
4sm
Laplace transform to Eq. (9) with the help of the       
Bz z Bþz
identity (see pages 258 and 264 in [9])  Erf pffiffiffiffi þ 2Erf pffiffiffiffi  Erf pffiffiffiffi ;
2 sm 2 sm 2 sm
 pffi  at1:5 a2
L1 ea s ¼ pffiffiffi  e 4t ; ð10Þ ð17Þ
2 p
and Erf(Þ represents the error function.
or It is noted that another derivation under the
consideration of the whole domain  1\z\1 is

123
 Meccanica

similar to previous processes except that Eq. (1.2) has
to be replaced by
uð0; z; tÞ ¼ u0 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  HðzÞ  HðB þ zÞ:
ð18Þ
The corresponding flow velocity can be solved by
applying the Fourier transform instead of the Fourier
sine transform. The derived velocity is shown in a
complex form
Velocity profiles for the first problem are shown in
Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Though both Eqs. (15) and (16) are
the exact solutions, the former one possesses a much
easier form for performing numerical calculation more
efficiently than the latter one containing an integral
with limits of infinity. Therefore velocity profiles in
these figures are calculated by using Eq. (15). Without
loss of general flow properties, u0 ¼ 1 and m ¼ 1 are
chosen for all figures in this paper. Figure 2 depicts

Z1   
iu0 dx  ðyizÞx  y pffiffiffiffi
u¼ 2e  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ x mt
4p x 2 mt
1 ð19Þ
   

ðyizÞx ðyiðzBÞÞx ðyiðzþBÞÞx y pffiffiffiffi

þ 2e e e Erfc pffiffiffiffi  x mt :
2 mt

As for the second problem, one can replace velocity distributions along z coordinate at different
Eq. (1.2) by times at the elevation y ¼ 5 for the case B ¼ 10. It is
clear that flow velocity increases as time goes by. It is
uð0; z; tÞ ¼ u0 cos rt½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð20Þ
also found that the fluid energy given by moving plates
and then follow the same derivation processes to gradually spreads across the boundaries z ¼  B and
acquire the velocity solution z ¼ þ B. Figure 3 shows velocity distributions for a
limiting case of t ! 1. Velocity profiles at various y
Zt
u0 y levels are plotted for the case B ¼ 10. Larger flow
u ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi G2 ðy; z; sÞs1:5 cos rðt  sÞds: ð21Þ
4 pm velocity is observed at smaller y level within the
0

Fig. 2 Velocity profiles at various times Fig. 3 Velocity profiles at various y levels at t ! 1

123
Meccanica

differentiate Eq. (19) with respect to z in order to

calculate the velocity gradient in z
Z1 n 
ou u0
¼ 2eðyizÞx  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx
oz 4p
1
 
y pffiffiffiffi
 Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ x mt
2 mt
 
ðyizÞx
þ 2e  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx
 

y pffiffiffiffi
 Erfc pffiffiffiffi  x mt dx:
2 mt
ð22Þ
Equation (22) can be rewritten in the following
form by applying the technique of integration by
parts

Fig. 4 Velocity profiles for different breadths of moving plates

8
pffiffiffiffi Z1 < ðyizÞx  pffiffiffi
2
ou u0 mt 2e eðyiðzBÞÞx eðyiðzþBÞÞx  2py ffiffimtþx mt
¼   e
oz 2p1:5 : y  iz y  iðz  BÞ y  iðz þ BÞ
1
 ðyizÞx  2 9 ð23Þ
pffiffiffi
2e eðyiðzBÞÞx eðyiðzþBÞÞx  2py ffiffimtx mt =
þ   e dx;
y þ iz y þ iðz  BÞ y þ iðz þ BÞ ;

region  B  z  B. On the contrary, larger velocity which can be further simplified to be

flow appears at larger y level far from the region of ( y2 þz2 y2 þðzBÞ2 y2 þðzþBÞ2
)
moving plates. As for different plate breadths, Fig. 4 ou u0 y e 4mt e 4mt e 4mt
¼ 2 2 2   :
presents velocity distributions at t ¼ 5 at the level oz p y þ z y2 þ ðz  BÞ2 y2 þ ðz þ BÞ2
y ¼ 3. It is found that wider moving plates result in ð24Þ
greater as well as wider velocity distributions along z
coordinate because of larger energy being inputted It is noted that Eq. (24) is free of integration and
from moving plates. As for the second problem, also free of x. From Eq. (24), it is obvious that there
velocity properties which can be calculated by are three ‘‘point sources’’ located at ðy; zÞ ¼
Eq. (21) are quite similar to those shown in Figs. 2, ð0; 0Þ; ð0; BÞ and ð0;  BÞ in which velocity jumps
3 and 4 and are neglected herein. exist between plates. The gradient in z becomes larger
In addition to velocity profiles, velocity gradient in as the location is closer to any point source, and is
either y or z direction is examined herein. First we symmetric with respect to z ¼ 0. Moreover, as time

123
 Meccanica

goes by, the velocity gradient will gradually increase. Z1 n 

ou iu0
These behaviors are observed in Figs. 5 and 6 for cases ¼ 2eðyizÞx  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx
of t ¼ 1 and B ¼ 10 for different values of y and z, oy 4p
1
respectively.  
y pffiffiffiffi
On the other side, velocity gradient in y can be  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ x mt
2 mt
calculated in a similar way, it reads  
ðyizÞx
 2e  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx
 2
pffiffiffi
   2py ffiffimtþx mt
y pffiffiffiffi e
 Erfc pffiffiffiffi  x mt  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 mt x pmt
 
 2eðyizÞx  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx
 2
pffiffiffi
 2py ffiffi
mt
x mt
e
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x pmt
 o
 2eðyizÞx  eðyiðzBÞÞx  eðyiðzþBÞÞx dx:
ð25Þ
In Eq. (25), the first two terms of the integrand are
identical to those in Eq. (22), while the last two terms
appear due to the differentiation of complementary
error functions. For measuring the shear stress at
plates, the velocity gradient at y ¼ 0 is expressed
 Z1
ou iu0 
¼ eizx 2  eiBx  eiBx
Fig. 5 Velocity gradients in z at different y levels (the infinite- oyy¼0 2p
depth case) 1 ð26Þ
!
 pffiffiffiffi ex2 mt
 Erf x mt  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi dx:
x pmt

As the integrand in Eq. (26) is an even function, it

can be rewritten as

ou 2u0 1
 ¼ r sin xzð1  cos BxÞ
oy y¼0 p 0
! ð27Þ
 pffiffiffiffi ex2 mt
 Erf x mt  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi dx:
x pmt

Equation (27) can be further simplified by the

following identities
Z1  
sin xz ax2 p jzj
e dx ¼ Erf pffiffiffi  SignðzÞ; ð28Þ
x 2 2 a
0

Fig. 6 Velocity gradients in z at different z sections (the

infinite-depth case)

123
Meccanica

Z1   Finally, we will demonstrate the present solution

z2 SignðzÞ
sin xz  Erf ðaxÞdx ¼ exp  2  ; includes previous studies by Liu [1] and Riccardi [8],
4a j zj who analyzed the same problem for plates of infinite
0
ð29Þ breadths, as a limiting case. Based on present solution,
if the breadths of both plates approach infinity
where ðB ! 1Þ, Eqs. (17) can be reduced to
8  2  
< 1; z[0 y z
G2 ðy; z; sÞ ¼ 2 exp  Erf pffiffiffiffi ; ð32Þ
SignðzÞ ¼ 0; for z ¼ 0 : ð30Þ 4sm 2 sm
:
1; z\0
and then Eq. (15) becomes
The result is
Zt    
 ( z2 ðzþBÞ2 u0 y 1:5 y2 z
ou u0 2e4mt e 4mt u ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi s exp  Erf pffiffiffiffi ds: ð33Þ
¼  SignðzÞ   Signðz þ BÞ 2 pm 4ms 2 ms
oyy¼0 p jzj j z þ Bj 0

ðzBÞ2 pffiffiffi    Equation (33) can be also expressed in another

e 4mt p j zj
  Signðz  BÞ þ pffiffiffiffi Erf pffiffiffiffi form by using the complementary error function
j z  Bj mt 2 mt
  instead of the error function
jz þ Bj Signðz þ BÞ  
 SignðzÞ  Erf pffiffiffiffi  y
2 mt 2 u ¼ u0 Erfc pffiffiffiffi
 
2 mt
jz  Bj Signðz  BÞ
 Erf pffiffiffiffi  : Zt    
2 mt 2 u0 y 1:5 y2 z
 pffiffiffiffiffi s exp  Erfc pffiffiffiffi ds:
ð31Þ 2 pm 4sm 2 sm
0
The shear stress at plates can be readily measured ð34Þ
by Eq. (31) in which no transformed parameter
appears. It is found that there exist three singularities Now it is verified that Eq. (34) is identical to
located at z ¼ B; 0; and B, and the wall stress Eq. (4.10) in Liu [1], and Eq. (33) was derived by
decays as times goes by. Corresponding results are Riccardi [8] around his Eq. (26).
drawn in Fig. 7.

3 Flow in a finite-depth domain

In general, a finite-depth flow is more common and

practical than the infinite-depth one in real world.
Therefore a flow of depth h along y coordinate is
considered in this section. Different from previous
derivation processes, we adopt the finite Fourier sine
transform in y domain instead of the integral transform
in z domain. Similar to the idea of flow anti-symmetry
in z applied in previous section, governing equation,
boundary and initial conditions for uðy; z; tÞ for the
domain z  0 are shown below
 2 
ou o u o2 u
¼m þ ; ð35:1Þ
ot oy2 oz2

uð0; z; tÞ ¼ u0 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð35:2Þ

Fig. 7 Velocity gradients in y at y ¼ 0 for different times (the

infinite-depth case)

123
 Meccanica

ou u0
ðh; z; tÞ ¼ 0; ð35:3Þ u ðy; 0; sÞ ¼  ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð39:4Þ
oy s

uðy; 0; tÞ ¼ 0; ð35:4Þ u ðy; 1; sÞ finite: ð39:5Þ

Now the finite Fourier sine transform defined as
uðy; 1; tÞ ¼ 0; ð35:5Þ
Z2h
np
uðy; z; 0Þ ¼ 0: ð35:6Þ Ffs ðu Þ ¼ u~f ðn; z; sÞ  u ðy; z; sÞ sin ydy; ð40Þ
2h
For a more concise expression during derivation, 0

the flow domain along y coordinate is now considered will be applied to Eq. (39). It is remarked that the
to be doubly expanded from 0  y  h to 0  y  2h Fourier sine transforms shown in Eqs. (6) and (40) are
bounded by the following condition applied in the z- and y-directions for the infinite- and
uð2h; z; tÞ ¼ u0 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð36Þ finite-depth problems, respectively. The consideration
why the transforms in different spatial directions are
which replaces Eq. (35.3) henceforth. This expansion applied for the two problems is to render the derivation
will not change properties of the original flow. By more concisely. It is also quite definite that one can
applying the Laplace transform to above equations, the apply the Fournier sine transforms in the y-direction
transformed velocity u^ðy; z; sÞ is governed and for the infinite problem and in the z-direction for the
bounded by finite problem to achieve the exact solution. By
applying Eq. (40) to Eq. (39), it yields
s o2 u^ o2 u^
u^ ¼ 2 þ 2 ; ð37:1Þ
m oy oz o2 u~f
 a~
uf ¼ Fs ðn; zÞ; ð41:1Þ
u0 oz2
u^ð0; z; sÞ ¼ ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð37:2Þ
s 2u0 h
u~f ðn; 0; sÞ ¼  ½1  ð1Þn 
u0 nsp
u^ð2h; z; sÞ ¼ ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð37:3Þ  ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð41:2Þ
s

u^ðy; 0; sÞ ¼ 0; ð37:4Þ u~f ðn; 1; sÞ finite; ð41:3Þ

u^ðy; 1; sÞ ¼ 0: ð37:5Þ where

Before calculating the next integral transform, s n2 p2

a¼ þ 2 ; ð42Þ
u^ðy; z; sÞ in Eq. (37) is shifted to u ðy; z; sÞ with the m 4h
relation and
u0
u ¼ u^  ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1; ð38Þ 2u0 h 1  ð1Þn
s Fs ðn; zÞ ¼ 
p n


which results in ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1 1 d 2

  ½ H ðz Þ þ Hð B  zÞ  :
m s dz2
o2 u o2 u s u 0 u0
þ 2  u ¼ ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1  ð43Þ
oy2 oz m m s
d2 From Eq. (41), the solution of u~f is expressed in the
 2 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ;
dz following form
ð39:1Þ pffiffi pffiffi
u~f ¼ C1 e az þ C2 e az þ u~p ; ð44Þ
u ð0; z; sÞ ¼ 0; ð39:2Þ where C1 and C2 are constants to be determined. The
particular solution u~p is now solved by applying the
u ð2h; z; sÞ ¼ 0; ð39:3Þ
method of variation of parameters

123
Meccanica


1
u~p ¼ pffiffiffi 2u0 h 1  ð1Þn 1  pffiffi  1
2 a C1 ¼   1  e aB  ;
 pffiffi Z Z pffiffi  p n 2s 2am
pffiffi pffiffi
 e az e az Fs ðn; zÞdz  e az e az Fs ðn; zÞds : ð50Þ

ð45Þ 2u0 h 1  ð1Þn

C2 ¼ 
p  pffiffin 
The integrals in Eq. (45) are calculated as 1  aB 1  pffiffi
aB
pffiffi 
 aB
Z   e 1 þ 1e e :
pffiffi 2u0 h 1  ð1Þn 1 h pffiffi 2s 2am
e az Fs ðn; zÞdz ¼   pffiffiffi e az
p n m a ð51Þ
 pffiffi  pffiffi  pffiffi  i
þ 1  e az HðzÞ þ e aB 1  e aðBzÞ HðB  zÞ

By applying the inverse finite Fourier sine
1h pffiffiffi pffiffi  pffiffiffi i transform
 dðzÞ þ aHðzÞ  e aB dðz  BÞ þ aHðz  BÞ ;
s
1X 1
np
ð46Þ F1 ~Þ ¼ u ðy; z; sÞ 
fs ðu u~f ðn; z; sÞ sin y; ð52Þ
h n¼1 2h
Z 
pffiffi 2u0 h 1  ð1Þn 1 h pffiffi
e az Fs ðn; zÞdz ¼   pffiffiffi e az one can solve u^ with the help of the shifting relation
p n m a
 pffiffi  pffiffi  pffiffi  i Eq. (38)
az aB aðzBÞ
þ 1 þ e H ðzÞ þ e 1 þ e H ðB  zÞ

u0
1h pffiffiffi pffiffi  pffiffiffi i u^ ¼
s
½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1
 dðzÞ  aHðzÞ  e aB dðz  BÞ  aHðz  BÞ ;
s 2u0 X 1
1  ð1Þn np
þ  sin y
ð47Þ p n¼1 n 2h
 h pffiffi pffiffi
with the aid of the identity 1
 e az ð1  HðzÞÞ  e az ð1 þ HðzÞÞ
2s
Z  pffiffi 2
pffiffi
d pffiffiffi þ e aðzBÞ ðHðz  BÞ  1Þ
e az 2 HðzÞ dz ¼ dðzÞ þ aHðzÞ: ð48Þ pffiffi pffiffi i
dz
þ e aðzþBÞ þ e aðBzÞ Hðz  BÞ
The solution to u~p is now solved and simplified to 1 h paffiffiðzþBÞ pffiffi

be þ e þ e az ð1 þ HðzÞÞ
2ampffiffi pffiffi
2u0 h 1  ð1Þn þ e az ð1 þ HðzÞÞ þ e aðzBÞ HðB  zÞ
u~p ¼   pffiffi i

 ph n
 pffiffi pffiffi 
þ e aðBzÞ ð1 þ HðB  zÞÞ þ 2ð1  HðzÞ  HðB  zÞÞ :
1
2 þ e az þ e az  2 HðzÞ ð53Þ
2am
 pffiffi pffiffi  i
þ e aðzBÞ þ e aðBzÞ  2 HðB  zÞ ð49Þ Finally, the solution of u can be solved by applying
the inverse Laplace transform to Eq. (53) with the help
1 h  pffiffiaz pffiffi 
þ  e þ e  a z H ðzÞ of Eq. (11). The result is
2spffiffi pffiffi  io
þ e aðzBÞ þ e aðBzÞ Hðz  BÞ : 2u0 X
1
1  ð1Þn np
u ¼ u0 ½HðzÞ þ HðB  zÞ  1 þ  sin y
p n¼1 n 2h
In this equation, we remark that all Dirac delta  fL1 ðzÞ  ð1  HðzÞÞ þ L1 ðB  zÞ  ð1 þ Hðz  BÞÞ
functions and their derivatives, which result from the þ L1 ðzÞ  ð1  HðzÞÞ þ L1 ðz  BÞ  Hðz  BÞ þ L1 ðz þ BÞ
second derivatives of Heaviside step functions in þ L2 ðzÞ  ð1 þ HðzÞÞ þ L2 ðzÞ  ð1 þ HðzÞÞ
Eq. (43), disappear in Eq. (49) by using Eqs. (46)– þ L2 ðz þ BÞ  ð1Þ þ L2 ðz  BÞ  ð1 þ HðB  zÞÞ
 2 2 
(48). Using the boundary conditions Eqs. (41.2) and n p mt
þL2 ðB  zÞ  HðB  zÞ þ exp 
(41.3) to solve Eq. (44), C1 and C2 are determined 4h2
½1  HðzÞ  HðB  zÞg;
ð54Þ

123
 Meccanica

Fig. 8 Velocity profiles at

various z sections for the
case h ¼ 1

where profile gradually approaches zero as z ! 0. At the

 pffiffi
 region far from moving plates, the induced flow is very
1  az
L1 ðzÞ ¼ L1 e weak (z ¼ 15 for example). As for the results at z ¼
2s 9:9 and z ¼ 10:1, it is observed that there is a velocity
  pffiffiffiffi
1 np z np mt jump across the section z ¼ 10 due to the discontinuity
¼ e2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi  ð55Þ
4 2 mt 2h of boundary conditions.
 pffiffiffiffi
np z np mt Next, the velocity gradient in z is examined by
þe2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ ; differentiating Eq. (54) with respect to z
2 mt 2h
  ou 2u0 X
1
1  ð1Þn np
1 1 pffiffiaz ¼ u0  dðB  zÞ þ  sin y
L2 ð z Þ ¼ L e oz p n¼1 n 2h
2am
 2 2    ð56Þ  fðL3 ðz  BÞ  L3 ðB  zÞÞ  Hðz  BÞ
1 n p mt z
¼ exp   Erfc pffiffiffiffi : þ ð L1 ð z  BÞ þ L1 ð B  z Þ Þ  dð z  BÞ
2 4h2 2 mt
þ L3 ðB  zÞ þ L3 ðz þ BÞ  2L3 ðzÞ
Figure 8 shows velocity profiles along y coordinate
at different z sections for the case h ¼ 1, t ¼ 5, B ¼ 10 þ ðL4 ðz  BÞ  L4 ðB  zÞÞ  HðB  zÞ
and m ¼ 1. It not only presents a comprehensive view  L4 ðz  BÞ  L4 ðz þ BÞ  ðL2 ðz  BÞ
of present problem, but also reflects some similar þL2 ðB  zÞÞ  dðB  zÞ
behaviors of the infinite-depth case. In the left panel  2 2 

n p mt
velocity profiles within the region z\B are plotted in þ2L4 ðzÞ þ exp   d ðB  z Þ ;
4h2
solid curves while those outside the region z\B are
depicted in dash curves in the right panel. The velocity ð57Þ
profile at the central plane (z ¼ 5) of moving plate is
larger than other ones. It is also obvious that velocity

123
Meccanica

where
d
L3 ð z Þ ¼ L1 ðzÞ
dz
  pffiffiffiffi
1 np npz z np mt
¼  e 2h  Erfc pffiffiffiffi 
4 2h 2 mt 2h
np np  pffiffiffiffi
z np mt
þ e2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ
2h 2 mt 2h
 2 2 2

2 n p mt z
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  exp  ;
pmt 4h2 4mt
ð58Þ
 2 2 
d 1 n p mt z2
L4 ðzÞ ¼ L2 ðzÞ ¼  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  exp  ;
dz 2 pmt 4h2 4mt
ð59Þ
and the following relation is applied during above
Fig. 9 Velocity gradients in z at y ¼ 1 at different times for the
differentiation case h ¼ 1
d 2 2
ErfcðzÞ ¼  pffiffiffi ez : ð60Þ that the gradient at y ¼ 0, which measures the wall
dz p
stress, will decay as times goes by. The behaviors are
Equation (57) can be further simplified to be quite similar to those shown in Fig. 7 for the infinite
case.
ou 2u0 X
1
1  ð1Þn ðnpÞ
¼ u0  dðB  zÞ þ  sin y Now we will examine and verify the velocity and its
oz p n¼1 n 2h
nnp np  gradients for the limiting case B ! 1 with previous
  sinh ðz  BÞ  Hðz  BÞ study In this limit, the solution to u shown in Eq. (54)
2h 2h becomes
þL3 ðB  zÞ þ L3 ðz þ BÞ  2L3 ðzÞ
þ 2L4 ðzÞ  L4 ðz þ BÞ  L4 ðz  BÞ
np  o
þ cosh ð z  B Þ  dð z  B Þ :
2h
ð61Þ
As for the velocity gradient in y, it can be readily
obtained since in Eq. (54) there is only a sine term
which is function of y. We neglect the detailed
expression herein.
Figure 9 shows the evolution of velocity gradient in
z for the case h ¼ 1 and B ¼ 10. Results at the surface
y ¼ 1 for t ¼ 0:1, 0:5 and 1:0 are drawn. It is found
that the velocity gradient increases as times goes by.
The reason for this phenomenon is that, as the flow
velocity in the whole domain will gradually evolve to
approach the motion of plates below, the velocity
jump across the boundaries of plates becomes more
clear and this results in the growing of the velocity
gradient in z. Figure 10 displays the results of velocity
gradient in y at y ¼ 0. It can be directly calculated by Fig. 10 Velocity gradients in y at y ¼ 0 at different times for
differentiating Eq. (54) with respect to y. It is found the case h ¼ 1

123
 Meccanica

2u0 X1
1  ð1Þn np solutions for both infinite- and finite-depth cases are
u ¼ u0  HðzÞ þ  sin y derived by applying integral transforms as main
p n¼1 n 2h
  2 2  mathematical methods. Velocity profiles, evolutions,
n p mt and velocity gradients are examined. Present study not
 exp   HðzÞ
4h only can be used to study extended Stokes’ problems
þ L1 ðzÞ  ð1  HðzÞÞ þ L1 ðzÞ  ð1  HðzÞÞ of non-Newtonian fluids, but also may be a beginning
þ L2 ðzÞ  ð1 þ HðzÞÞ þ L2 ðzÞ  ð1 þ HðzÞÞg: for studying other flows driven by more complicated
boundary conditions in the future.
ð62Þ
For z [ 0, Eq. (62) can be expressed as Acknowledgements The author is indebted to the reviewer’s
comments and detailed suggestions to the derivation and
2u0 X 1
1  ð1Þn np analysis. Financial support from Ministry of Science and
u ¼ u0   sin y Technology of Taiwan with the Grant MOST 106-2221-E-
p n¼1 n 2h
270-002-MY2 is also acknowledged.
  2 2   
n p mt z
exp   Erf pffiffiffiffi
4h 2 mt
  pffiffiffiffi ð63Þ References
1 np z np mt
þ e2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi 
2 2 mt 2h 1. Liu CM (2008) Complete solutions to extended Stokes’
 pffiffiffiffi

np z np mt problems. Math Probl Eng 2008:754262

þ e2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ : 2. Liu CM (2014) Extended Stokes’ problems for Maxwell
2 mt 2h
fluids. J Eng Math 89(1):1–11
Equation (63) is identical to Liu’s Eq. (5.8) [1] in 3. Stokes GG (1851) On the effect of the internal friction of
fluids on the motion of pendulums. Trans Camb Philos Soc
which he performed the inverse Laplace transform by 9:8–106
Eq. (10) shown previously. In addition, the velocity 4. Panton R (1968) The transient for Stokes’ oscillating plate: a
gradient in z for B ! 1 is solution in terms of tabulated functions. J Fluid Mech
31:819–825
ou X 1
1  ð1Þn np 5. Erdogan ME (2000) A note on an unsteady flow of a viscous
¼ u0   sin y fluid due to an oscillating plane wall. Int J Nonlinear Mech
oz n¼1
2h 2h
pffiffiffiffi 35:1–6
 
z np mt 6. Liu CM, Liu IC (2006) A note on the transient solution of
np z ð64Þ
 e 2h  Erfc pffiffiffiffi  Stokes’ second problem with arbitrary initial phase. J Mech
2 mt 2h 22:349–354
 pffiffiffiffi
np z np mt 7. Zeng Y, Weinbaum S (1995) Stokes problems for moving
e2hz  Erfc pffiffiffiffi þ : half-planes. J Fluid Mech 287:59–74
2 mt 2h
8. Riccardi G (2011) Remarks on the solution of extended
The velocity gradient in y is ignored herein. Stokes’ problems. Int J Nonlinear Mech 46:958–970
9. Oberhettinger F, Badii L (1973) Tables of Laplace trans-
forms. Springer, Berlin

4 Concluding remarks

In present study viscous flow driven by moving plates

of finite breadth is mathematically analyzed. Exact

123