On mechanism of peristaltic flows for power-law fluids

This paper presents a mathematical model for flow induced by peristaltic waves through a deformable tube. An incompressible power-law fluid is considered. The two dimensional model is formulated based upon the fundamental equation of mass conservation and momentum. Exact analytical solutions have been derived for the stream function, axial velocity and pressure gradient which is the main goal of this work. Moreover, pressure rise per wavelength has been evaluated numerically. The present analysis has been performed under long wavelength and low Reynolds number assumptions. The effects of various physical parameters are also discussed through graphs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.