TY - JOUR
T1 - Extended lubrication theory
T2 - Improved estimates of flow in channels with variable geometry
AU - Tavakol, Behrouz
AU - Froehlicher, Guillaume
AU - Holmes, Douglas P.
AU - Stone, Howard A.
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - Lubrication theory is broadly applicable to the flow characterization of thin fluid films and the motion of particles near surfaces. We offer an extension to lubrication theory by starting with Stokes equations and considering higher-order terms in a systematic perturbation expansion to describe the fluid flow in a channel with features of a modest aspect ratio. Experimental results qualitatively confirm the higher-order analytical solutions, while numerical results are in very good agreement with the higherorder analytical results. We show that the extended lubrication theory is a robust tool for an accurate estimate of pressure drop in channels with shape changes on the order of the channel height, accounting for both smooth and sharp changes in geometry.
AB - Lubrication theory is broadly applicable to the flow characterization of thin fluid films and the motion of particles near surfaces. We offer an extension to lubrication theory by starting with Stokes equations and considering higher-order terms in a systematic perturbation expansion to describe the fluid flow in a channel with features of a modest aspect ratio. Experimental results qualitatively confirm the higher-order analytical solutions, while numerical results are in very good agreement with the higherorder analytical results. We show that the extended lubrication theory is a robust tool for an accurate estimate of pressure drop in channels with shape changes on the order of the channel height, accounting for both smooth and sharp changes in geometry.
KW - Lubrication theory
KW - Perturbation expansion
KW - Stokes flow
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U2 - 10.1098/rspa.2017.0234
DO - 10.1098/rspa.2017.0234
M3 - Article
C2 - 29118658
AN - SCOPUS:85034106842
VL - 473
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
SN - 0080-4630
IS - 2206
ER -