The flow along a wall moving reversely to a parallel non-Newtonian, power-law, stream

The flow induced by a flat plate, with finite length, moving reversely to a parallel ambient stream of a non-Newtonian, power-law fluid is considered in the present paper. This problem has been investigated partly in the past (Klemp and Acrivos, 1972, 1976) but only for a Newtonian fluid and using a modified boundary layer approximation. In the present work the investigation is based on the solution of the complete equations using the commercial code ANSYS FLUENT. It is found that for low Reynolds numbers and low power-law index (n < 0.5) the drag coefficient obeys the relationship c(D) = A/Re. It was also found that the drag coefficient, in general, increases with the velocity ratio parameter lambda but at lambda around 2 the drag coefficient shows a local sharp decrease (drag crisis). An explanation for this crisis is given.