Flow Development in a Channel Having a Longitudinally Moving Wall

The problem of laminar flow development in a parallel-plate channel having one moving wall is investigated both analytically and experimentally. In the first phase, an analytical solution for the velocity field is derived by employing a linearized model of the momentum equation. Numerical results are obtained which cover the entire range of operating conditions corresponding to fully forward-moving (i.e., nonreverse) flows. Results for the axial pressure distribution and for the drag force on the moving wall are also presented. The experiments were performed in a channel, one of whose walls was the surface of a rotating cylinder. Air was the working fluid. The operating conditions of the experiment covered the range from u_w/u¯ = 0 to 1.5 (u_w = velocity of the moving wall, u¯ = mean fluid velocity). Measurements were made of the pressure distribution along the length of the channel. The agreement between the experimental and analytical results was found to be very good, thereby lending support to the analytical model.