Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487

www.elsevier.com/locate/cnsns

A note on series solution for generalized Couette flow

T. Hayat a, M. Sajid a,b,*
, M. Ayub a

a
Department of Mathematics, Quaid-i-Azam University 45320, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
b
Physics Research Division, PINSTECH, P.O. Nilore, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Received 4 January 2006; received in revised form 16 January 2006; accepted 28 February 2006
Available online 5 May 2006

Abstract

The problem of generalized Couette flow is considered in this paper. Using homotopy analysis method (HAM) the ser-
ies solution is developed and its convergence is discussed. Finally, the results are presented graphically and the effects of
emerging parameters are analyzed.
Ó 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 02.60.Lj; 44.05.+e; 47.50.d

Keywords: Oldroyd fluid; Generalized Couette flow; Series solution; Convergence

1. Exact analytic solution

In this paper we revisited the problem of generalized Couette flow for an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid discussed
by Hayat et al. [1] for the series solution. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) proposed by Liao [2,3] is
used to obtain the analytic solution of the problem. HAM has been successfully applied to several problems
[4–14]. All these problems verify the validity of HAM. HAM provide us a convenient way to control the con-
vergence of the approximation series and adjust the convergence regions when necessary. The series solution
has been developed for the present flow problem. The convergence of the series solution has been discussed
explicitly which was not already discussed. From Eqs. (34) and (36) of [1] we have

 2 2  4 2 "   2 #2
d2 u du d u du d u dbp du
l 2 þ lð3a1  a2 Þ þ la1 a2  1 þ a2 ¼ 0: ð1Þ
dy dy dy 2 dy dy 2 dx dy

*
Corresponding author. Address: Physics Research Division, PINSTECH, P.O. Nilore, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. Tel.: +92 51
2275341.
E-mail address: sajidqau2002@yahoo.com (M. Sajid).

1007-5704/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2006.02.009
1482 T. Hayat et al. / Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487

In above ordinary differential equation

a1 ¼ k1 k4  ðk3 þ k5 Þðk4  k2 Þ; ð2Þ
a2 ¼ k1 k3  ðk3 þ k5 Þðk3  k1 Þ; ð3Þ
in which l and ki (i = 1–5) are the material constants.
For the generalized Couette flow, the fluid is between two parallel plates and motion induced is due to
applied constant pressure gradient and motion of the top plate. Defining the dimensionless variables
u y x b
pd
u ¼ ; y  ¼ ; x ¼ ; p ¼
b ;
U d d lU
2 2
ð4Þ
a 1 U a 2 U
a1 ¼ 2 ; a2 ¼ 2 ;
d d
the Eq. (1) which governs the flow is
 2 2  4 2 "  2 #2
d2 u du d u du d u du
þ ð3a1  a2 Þ þ a1 a2  C 1 þ a2 ¼0 ð5Þ
dy 2 dy dy 2 dy dy 2 dy

with the boundary conditions

u¼0 for y ¼ 0;
ð6Þ
u¼1 for y ¼ 1;
where C ¼ dbp =dx is the constant pressure gradient and asterisks have been omitted for simplicity.
Our interest now lies in obtaining the HAM solution of above problem. For that we choose
u0 ðyÞ ¼ y; ð7Þ
as the initial approximation of u(y) and
LðuÞ ¼ u00 ð8Þ
as the auxiliary linear operator satisfying
L½C 1 y þ C 2  ¼ 0; ð9Þ
where C1 and C2 are arbitrary constants.
The zeroth order problem is
ð1  pÞL½uðy; pÞ  u0 ðyÞ ¼ p uðy; pÞ;
hN½ ð10Þ
ð0; pÞ ¼ 0; uð1; pÞ ¼ 1;
u ð11Þ
where the non-linear differential operator N is of the type
 2  2  4
o2 
uðy; pÞ uðy; pÞ
o ouðy; pÞ o2 uðy; pÞ 2 ouðy; pÞ
N½uðy; pÞ ¼  2a 2 C þ ð3a 1  a 2 Þ  a 2 C
oy 2 oy oy oy 2 oy
 4 2
uðy; pÞ o 
o uðy; pÞ
þ a1 a2  C: ð12Þ
oy oy 2
Here p 2 [0, 1] is the embedding parameter and h is the auxiliary nonzero parameter. For p = 0 and p = 1, we,
respectively, have
uðy; 0Þ ¼ u0 ðyÞ;
 uðy; 1Þ ¼ uðyÞ:
 ð13Þ
ðy; pÞ varies from the initial guess u0(y) to the exact solution u(y). By Taylor’s
As p increases from 0 to 1, u
theorem and Eq. (13), we can write
1
X
uðy; pÞ ¼ u0 ðyÞ þ
 um ðyÞpm ; ð14Þ
m¼1
 T. Hayat et al. / Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487 1483

where
1 om u
ðy; pÞ
um ðyÞ ¼ : ð15Þ
m! opm p¼0

Clearly, the convergence of the series (14) depends on the auxiliary parameter h. Assume that h is selected such
that the series (14) is convergent at p = 1, then due to Eq. (13) we have
X 1
uðyÞ ¼ u0 ðyÞ þ um ðyÞ: ð16Þ
m¼1

Differentiating m times the zeroth order deformation Eq. (9) with respect to p and then dividing by m! and
finally setting p = 0 we get the following mth-order deformation problem
L½um ðyÞ  vm um1 ðyÞ ¼ 
hRm ðyÞ; ð17Þ
um ð0Þ ¼ um ð0Þ ¼ 0; ð18Þ
m1
X m1
X X
k
Rm ðyÞ ¼ u00m1 ðyÞ  Cð1  vm Þ  2a2 C u00m1k u0k þ ð3a1  a2 Þ u0m1k u0kl u00l
k¼0 k¼0 l¼0
m1
X X
k X
l m1
X X
k X
l X
j
 a22 C u0m1k u0kl u0lj u0j þ a1 a2 u0m1k u0kl u0lj u0ji u00i ; ð19Þ
k¼0 l¼0 j¼0 k¼0 l¼0 j¼0 i¼0

where

0; m 6 1
vm ¼ : ð20Þ
1; m > 1
We use the symbolic computation software MATHEMATICA to solve the linear Eqs. (17) and (18) up to first
few order of approximation and found that the solution of the problem can be expressed as an infinite series of
the form
X
mþ1
um ðyÞ ¼ am;n y n ; m P 0; ð21Þ
n¼0

Now substituting the expression given in Eq. (21) into Eq. (17) one obtains the following recurrence formulae
for the coefficients am,n of um(y) as follows for m P 1, 0 6 n 6 m + 1:
am;0 ¼ vm vmþ2 am1;0 ; ð22Þ
mþ1
X
hC 1
am;1 ¼ vm vmþ1 am1;1  ð1  vm Þ þ Cm;n ; ð23Þ
2 n¼0
ðn þ 1Þðn þ 2Þ
Ch 1
am;2 ¼ vm am1;2  ð1  vm Þ þ Cm;0 ; ð24Þ
2 2
1
am;n ¼ vm vmnþ2 am1;n þ Cm;n2 ; 3 6 n 6 m þ 1; ð25Þ
nðn  1Þ
where the related coefficient Cm,n is defined by
 
vmþ2n cm1;n  2a2 Cdm;n þ ð3a1  a2 ÞDm;n
Cm;n ¼ h : ð26Þ
a22 CKm;n þ a1 a2 km;n

Here the coefficients dm,n, Dm,n, Km,n and kqm;n where m P 1, 0 6 n 6 m + 1 are defined by
m1
X minfn;kþ1g
X
dm;n ¼ bk;s bm1k;ns ; ð27Þ
k¼0 s¼maxf0;nmþkg

m1 X
X k minfn;kþ2g
X minfp;lþ1g
X
Dm;n ¼ cl;s bkl;ps bm1k;np ; ð28Þ
k¼0 l¼0 p¼maxf0;nmþkg s¼maxf0;pkþl1g
1484 T. Hayat et al. / Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487

m1 X
X k X
l minfn;kþ3g
X minfq;lþ2g
X minfp;jþ1g
X
Km;n ¼ bj;s blj;ps bkl;qp bm1k;nq ; ð29Þ
k¼0 l¼0 j¼0 q¼maxf0;nmþkg p¼maxf0;qkþl1g s¼maxf0;plþj1g

and
m1 X
X k X
l X
j minfn;kþ4g
X minft;lþ3g
X minfq;jþ2g
X
km;n ¼
k¼0 l¼0 j¼0 i¼0 t¼maxf0;nmþkg q¼maxf0;tkþl1g p¼maxf0;qlþj1g

minfp;iþ1g
X
 ci;s bji;ps blj;qp bkl;tq bm1k;nt ; ð30Þ
s¼maxf0;pjþi1g

where the related coefficients bm,n and cm,n are given by

bm;n ¼ ðn þ 1Þam;nþ1 ; ð31Þ

cm;n ¼ ðn þ 1Þbm;nþ1 ; ð32Þ

For the detailed procedure of deriving the above relations the reader is referred to [4]. Using the above recur-
rence formulae, we can calculate all coefficients am,n by using only the first two
a0;0 ¼ 0; a0;1 ¼ 1; ð33Þ

given by the initial guess approximation given in Eq. (7). The corresponding Mth-order approximation of Eqs.
(5) and (6) is then given by
!
XM X M X
Mþ1 XM
n
um ðyÞ ¼ am;0 þ am;n y : ð34Þ
m¼0 m¼0 n¼1 m¼n1

We obtain in fact the following explicit, totally analytic solution

" !#
X1 X
M X X
Mþ1 M
n
uðyÞ ¼ um ðgÞ ¼ lim am;0 þ am;n y : ð35Þ
M!1
m¼0 m¼0 n¼1 m¼n1

2. Convergence of the analytic solution

The explicit, analytic expression given by Eq. (35) contains the auxiliary parameter h, which gives the con-
vergence region and rate of approximation for the homotopy analysis method proposed by Liao [2,3]. In Fig. 1
the 
h-curve is plotted for tenth order of approximation. It is clear from Fig. 1 that the range for the admissible
values for h is 0.9 6 h < 0.3. Our calculations indicate that the series given in Eq. (35) converges in the

Fig. 1. h-curve is plotted for l0th-order of approximation.

 T. Hayat et al. / Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487 1485

Fig. 2. Variation in the velocity field u for different order of approximation.

Fig. 3. Variation for l0th-order approximation of the velocity field u with change in parameter C at h = 0.5.

h = 0.5. Fig. 2 shows that the results for the higher order approximations are over-
whole region of y, when 
lapping and the maximum contribution to the solution is up to the fourth-order.

3. Results and discussion

The graphs for the functions u(y) are drawn against y for different values of the parameters a1, a2 and C.
It is depicted in Fig. 3 that the velocity decreases with an increase in the constant pressure gradient. The
next two figures namely Figs. 4 and 5 elucidate that the velocity increases with an increase in the parameter
a1 when pressure gradient is positive. However, it decreases with an increase in a1 for negative pressure gra-
dient. The effect of parameter a2 is quite opposite to that of a1 and is shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 4. Variation of the l0th-order approximation for velocity field u with change in parameter a1 for positive C at h = 0.5.
1486 T. Hayat et al. / Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 12 (2007) 1481–1487

Fig. 5. Variation of the l0th-order approximation for velocity field u with change in parameter a1 for negative C at h = 0.5.

Fig. 6. Variation of the l0th-order approximation for velocity field u with change in parameter a2 for positive C at h = 0.5.

Fig. 7. Variation of the l0th-order approximation velocity field u with change in parameter a2 for negative C at h = 0.5.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the reviewers for the useful suggestions. We are also thankful for the financial
support provided by Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Quaid-I-University (QAU).

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