PERISTALTIC TRANSPORT IN A TAPERED TUBE

The axisymmetric peristaltic flow of a viscous incompressible Newtonian fluid through a circular tube of varying cross section has been studied when the wave propagating along the wall of the tube is sinusoidal and the initial flow is Hagen-Poiseuille. A perturbation technique has been employed to analyze the problem where an attempt has been made to account for the nonlinear convective acceleration terms. Two particular cases have been studied in a greater detail. These are (i) when the Reynolds number (wave speed x radius/coefficient of kinematic viscosity) is small and (ii) when the wave number (2 pi x radius/wave length) is small. The analysis is based upon second order approximations. The derived analytical expressions have been computed in order to have an in-depth study of an important physiological problem, viz, spermatic flow through the vas deferens, in which peristaltic motion is quite dominant.