NUMERICAL AND ASYMPTOTIC SOLUTIONS FOR THE PERISTALTIC TRANSPORT OF A HEAT-CONDUCTING FLUID

In this paper numerical and asymptotic results are obtained for the solution of the Oberbeck-Boussinesq (O-B) equations in a two-dimensional channel as a mathematical model for the peristaltic transport of a heat-conducting fluid in a flexible tube. Our results show the following: 1) The asymptotic solution based upon the long wave approximation agrees well with the corresponding exact solution when the Reynolds number is large. 2) The temperature term in the O-B equations affects the solution significantly and can cause trapping when the volume expansion coefficient increases. 3) The streamline contour map is very sensitive to mass flux change. 4) The temperature contour map is insensitive to Reynolds number change. 5) The relation between mass flux and pressure drop is almost linear. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.