Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Department of Chemical Engineering

Transport Phenomena (CH5030)

28-03-2024 Assignment - 4 Max mark: 25

Attempt all questions

1. An infinitely long, solid, vertical cylinder of radius R is located in an infinite mass

of an incompressible fluid. Start with the Navier–Stokes equation in the θ direction
and derive an expression for the velocity distribution for the steady flow case in
which the cylinder is rotating about a fixed axis with a constant angular velocity ω.
You need not consider body forces. Assume that the flow is axisymmetric and the
fluid is at rest at infinity. (5)

2. Two immiscible, incompressible, viscous fluids having the same densities but dif-
ferent viscosities are contained between two infinite, horizontal, parallel plates (see
figure 1). The bottom plate is fixed and the upper plate moves with a constant
velocity U . Determine the velocity at the interface. Express your answer in terms
of U , µ1 and µ2 . The motion of the fluid is caused entirely by the movement of the
upper plate; that is, there is no pressure gradient in the x direction. The fluid ve-
locity and shearing stress are continuous across the interface between the two fluids.
Assume laminar flow. (5)

Figure 1: Two phase Couette flow

3. A liquid drains from a large tank through a small opening as illustrated in the figure
2. A vortex forms whose velocity distribution away from the tank opening can be
 approximated as that of a free vortex having a velocity potential.
Γ
ϕ= θ
2π
Determine an expression relating the surface shape to the strength of the vortex as
specified by the circulation Γ. (Hint: Use Bernoulli’s theorem) (5)

Figure 2: Drain Vortex

4. The two-dimensional flow of a nonviscous, incompressible fluid in the vicinity of the

90° corner of figure is described by the stream function

ψ = 2r2 sin 2θ

where ψ has units of m2 /s when r is in meters. Assume the fluid density is 1000
kgm−3 and the x–y plane is horizontal i.e., there is no difference in elevation between
points (1) and (2).

Figure 3: Flow along a 90° corner.

(a) Determine the corresponding velocity potential. (3)

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 (b) If the pressure at point (1) on the wall is 30 kPa, what is the pressure at point
(2)? (Hint: Use Bernoulli’s theorem) (2)

5. Re-derive the pulsatile flow example done in class. Show that as Rω << 1, the
actual solution of velocity uz is in same phase with dP/dL by plotting in MATLAB. (5)

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