Steady Laminar Flow through

J. H. Masliyah
K. Nandakumar
Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada T6G 2G6
Twisted Pipes
Fluid Flow in Square Tubes
The Navier-Stokes equation in a rotating frame of reference is solved numerically to ob-
tain the flow field for a steady, fully developed laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid in a
twisted tube having a square cross-section. The macroscopic force and energy balance
equations and the viscous dissipation term are presented in terms of variables in a rotat-
ing reference frame. The computed values of friction factor are presented for dimension-
less twist ratios, (i.e., length of tube over a rotation of -K radians normalized with respect
to half the width of tube) of 20, 10, 5 and 2.5 and for Reynolds numbers up to 2000. The
qualitative nature of the axial velocity profile was observed to be unaffected by the swirl-
ing motion. The secondary motion was found to be most important near the wall.

Introduction
It has been well established that secondary flow can significantly A suitable length scale for making the equations dimensionless is a,
enhance transfer processes such as heat and mass transfer. Secondary where (2a) is the width of a rectangular tube (see Fig. 1). Define the
flows are normally generated in the presence of curved walls. Liter- following dimensionless quantities
ature abounds with papers on flow through curved tubes of various 2 2V/2
cross sections [1-6]. In a series of papers, Marris [7, 8] provided a v=aV V = Q

fundamental insight on the generation of secondary flow. His objective \=\'l(v/a) Q = (Vp')a3/vn
was to provide qualitative results applicable to a wide variety of flow
situations, rather than precise quantitative data of engineering im- where the vector Q has three components [Qj, % , Qj). Equations (1)
portance. Todd [9] studied a more specific problem of flow through and (2) can then be written in dimensionless form as
twisted tubes. His analysis was restricted to pipes in which the or-
•Vv = - Q + V 2 v (3)
ientation of the cross-section changes slowly with distance along the
axis of the pipe. With this restriction he was able to simplify the V-v = 0 (4)
Navier-Stokes equation in a rotating frame of reference to a classical
equation in elasticity theory, viz. a fourth order partial differential All the quantities with an overbar are defined in a fixed co-ordinate
equation governing the transverse displacement of a clamped elastic system (x, y, z) whereas quantities without an overbar are defined
plate. His analysis up to that point is valid for a pipe of any cross in a rotating coordinate system (x, y, z). The presentation is restricted
section. Todd also presented approximate solution to the simplified to square pipes of constant twist rates. Let the cross section of the tube
equations for a specific geometry of elliptic tubes. His analysis was undergo a complete rotation (2 it radians) over a length of 2 H'. The
restricted to tubes with small twist rates. The twist rate is defined as rotating coordinate system (x, y, z) will also undergo an identical
ir/H' where H' is the distance along the axis of the pipe over a rotation rotation. The spatial coordinates of a point are transformed into the
of 7r radians. Todd pointed out the necessity to use a numerical rotating coordinate as,
method to solve the complete Navier-Stokes equation. Date [10]
X cos 6Z sin Bz 0 X
presented a numerical solution for flow through a circular tube with
y = —sin dz cos dz 0 y (5)
a twisted tape insert. He solved the Navier-Stokes equation in a ro-
z 0 0 1 z
tating cylindrical coordinate. The twist rate of the tape insert was
varied from 4.50 to 31.44. where Bz is the angle of rotation, and it is a function of 2. For a con-
In a series of papers we will present both qualitative analysis of the stant twist rate, we have dz (z) = w z'/H' = w z/H; both z' and H' are
flow field and precise quantitative data on pressure drop and heat normalized with the length scale a. As pointed out by Todd [9] it is
transfer rates in twisted tubes. It should be pointed out that twisted not convenient to decompose the velocity vector into contravariant
tubes of various cross sections are available commercially. In this
paper we present a detailed numerical solution for fully developed
viscous flow in twisted tubes with a square cross section. The Nav-
ier-Stokes equation in the stream function-vorticity form will be
solved in a rotating rectangular coordinate system. The rotating
coordinate system is preferred because the flow field is two-dimen-
sional in such a system.

Governing Differential Equations

The dimensional form of the Navier-Stokes equation (NSE) for
steady laminar flow is,
pv' • V v' = - V p ' + fiV'2 v' (1)
and the continuity equation for an incompressible fluid is,
V'-v' = 0 (2)

Contributed by The Heat Transfer Division for publication in The JOURNAL

OP HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received by the Heat Transfer Division
January 2,1981. Fig. 1 Tube geometry and the rotating coordinate system

Journal of Heat Transfer NOVEMBER 1981, VOL. 103 / 785

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1981 by ASME
 c o m p o n e n t s . H e n c e t h e velocity vector v is decomposed in t h e rotating z - c o m p o n e n t of e q u a t i o n (1) i n r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e s
c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m as,
duz Vz IT duz dvz
'- + uv — + - y z
1XVX + l v Uv + U"z (6) dx >y H dx dy

where i x , iy a n d i 2 are t h e u n i t vectors in t h e ox, oy a n d oz directions

N o t e t h a t i z =iz; i.e., t h e z-direction is t h e s a m e in b o t h c o o r d i n a t e
s y s t e m s . T h e velocity v in e q u a t i o n s (3) a n d (4) are t r a n s f o r m e d into
"*-||*--*'^£
d2vz „d2uz dt)z dvz d2uz
x
t h e r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e as follows: + y —r + —r~"x — (12)
\% dx 2 dy 2 dx
dy dxdy
cozflz —sin 8Z 0 T h e e q u a t i o n s of m o t i o n in t h e r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e s h a v e additional
sin 6Z cos 02 0 (7) t e r m s of o r d e r ir/H a n d (TT/H)2 w h i c h a r e r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e secon-
0 0 1 d a r y flow. A s t r e a m f u n c t i o n w h i c h satisfies t h e c o n t i n u i t y equation
(9), can b e defined in t h e t r a n s f o r m e d c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m as,
T h e d e r i v a t i v e s of a scalar function f in t h e s t a t i o n a r y c o o r d i n a t e
s y s t e m a r e t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o t h e r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m using, dip
(13a)
dy H

= dxp w
dx dx 1- — xuz (136)
dx H
*L cos 8, *L (8) w h e r e t h e s t r e a m function h a s b e e n n o r m a l i z e d as \p = \p'/v. Vorticity
dy is defined in t h e s t a t i o n a r y c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m as, <o = VXv, t h e z-
c o m p o n e n t of w h i c h is,
dy
= azy _ _ dVy dVx
_dz_ (14)
w h e r e 82' = ir/H is t h e t w i s t r a t e , o b t a i n e d b y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g 8z(z) dx dy
= IT z/H w i t h r e s p e c t t o 2. U s i n g t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s given l _ d z _in
J equa- In the rotating coordinate system this transforms to:
t i o n s (7) a n d (8), t h e c o m p o n e n t s of e q u a t i o n s (3) a n d (4) can b e
_ dvy dvx
t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o t h e r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e . I n t h e case of fully devel- (15)
o p e d s t e a d y flow, all t h e g r a d i e n t s in t h e z d i r e c t i o n (except for dx dy
p r e s s u r e ) are zero in t h e t r a n s f o r m e d c o o r d i n a t e s . T h e r e s u l t i n g T h e s t r e a m - f u n c t i o n e q u a t i o n is o b t a i n e d - f r o m e q u a t i o n s (13) a n d
t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l e q u a t i o n s are: (15) as,
Continuity equation in rotating coordinates Stream function-vorticity equation
dvx du y ir f dvz dvz d2\p d2\[/ IT , dv
- -z. , dvz
1 -\ \y x =0 0) 2
2v,
+x hy (16)
dx dy H [ dx dy dx dy2 H
dx dy.
x - c o m p o n e n t of e q u a t i o n (1) i n r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e s T h e vorticity t r a n s p o r t e q u a t i o n is o b t a i n e d from e q u a t i o n s (10) and
dvx TV (11) b y e l i m i n a t i n g t h e p r e s s u r e g r a d i e n t s in t h e u s u a l m a n n e r .
dux <>Vx
• + v•v 1 Vz Vorticity transport equation
y
dx dy H dx dy
dxp dwz d\p dwz •K ( dvz dvz
d2vx d2vx d2vx • + oi z — ix -y
= -Qx + ~+ +
t — - +y — r dy dx dx d y H \ dy dx
dx 2
dy %
2
dy2 dx2
2 dix dUy dvz W dvx d£i dvz
d ux dvx dvx dt) v do v
-2xy——-y—- — - vx + 2x —*• - 2 y ^ (10) + H- y
dx -x—-+vx dx
-—
H
y-
dx i>y J dy
dxdy dy dx dy dx ?>y 2
2
d coz d o)z lir\2 d2uz , d2w.z
y - c o m p o n e n t of e q u a t i o n (1) i n r o t a t i n g c o o r d i n a t e s
2 2
r2- 22 y
dx dy \Hj dy dx2
dUy <>Vy dVy dUy
• + vv • x ^ + vx da>2 do>z d2u>z
dx dy H dx dy • y 2xy (17)
dV dx dy dx dy.
, 2 ^ ', + X T2 2 ^ Z
dx2 dy2 \HJ dx2 dy 2
E q u a t i o n s (12,16) a n d (17) together with t h e a p p r o p r i a t e b o u n d a r y
d 2 t) v dUy ?>Vy dvx do. c o n d i t i o n s t o b e p r e s e n t e d l a t e r define t h e flow field of a N e w t o n i a n
-2xy - y —- • vy + 2y 2x (11)
dxdy dy dx dx dy fluid in a t w i s t e d t u b e .

-Nomenclature.
a = d i m e n s i o n a l half w i d t h of t u b e
p = fluid d e n s i t y
eu = e n e r g y loss factor, d i m e n s i o n l e s s less
ip = s t r e a m function, d i m e n s i o n l e s s
/ * = friction factor, d i m e n s i o n l e s s x = coordinate
o>z = axial vorticity, d i m e n s i o n l e s s
H = l e n g t h of t u b e over a r o t a t i o n of it r a - y = coordinate $ „ = energy dissipation term, dimension-
d i a n s , d i m e n s i o n l e s s (H = H' la) y m a x = h e i g h t of t u b e in y d i r e c t i o n , d i m e n - less
\j = u n i t v e c t o r s in J = x , y , z d i r e c t i o n s sionless ( y m a x = ymax'/a) (•) = average q u a n t i t y (e.g., (uz))
p' = p r e s s u r e , d i m e n s i o n a l 2 = coordinate
Q = a vector of p r e s s u r e g r a d i e n t in r o t a t i n g Ax = grid size in x -direction, d i m e n s i o n - Subscripts
_ c o o r d i n a t e \QX, Qy, Qz\, d i m e n s i o n l e s s less x = x - c o m p o n e n t of a vector (e.g., vx)
Q = a vector of p r e s s u r e g r a d i e n t in s t a t i o n - Ay = grid size in y - d i r e c t i o n , d i m e n s i o n - y = y-component of a vector (e.g., vy)
a r y c o o r d i n a t e {Qj, Qy, Qs), d i m e n s i o n - less z = z-component of a vector (e.g., vz)
less 8 = angular coordinate
R e = R e y n o l d s n u m b e r , 2a <u z ') h 8Z = angle of r o t a t i o n of t h e c o o r d i n a t e Superscripts
—
r = radial coordinate, dimensionless v i m = fluid viscosity = a v a r i a b l e in s t a t i o n a r y c o o r d i n a t e
v = velocity v e c t o r \vx, vy, vz), d i m e n s i o n - v = k i n e m a t i c viscosity ' = a dimensional variable

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 The Reynolds number, defined as Re = 2a{v'z)p/n, can be ex- the /*Re is calculated to be 14.23. The numerical value of/*Re for H
pressed in terms of dimensionless mean axial velocity as, = 1000 is within 0.2 percent of the limiting value for H ->- °°.
Another means of checking the accuracy of the numerical solution
Re = 2<uz) (18) is to compute f *Re by integrating the shear stress along the wall and
The friction factor, /*, is defined as compare it with that of equation (20). In an orthogonal coordinate
system this is tantamount to making a force balance. However, for
(r'u,*) a nonorthogonal system the force balance must be done with care and
/* (19)
the correct equation to use is
where (r'w*) ' s an average equivalent shear stress which acts on an
area A'w* = 8 a H' and counter balances the pressure force. This
definition for /* was chosen in order to avoid the evaluation of the true
-4y n -Q,
s:s.
ymas
yraax tL
-(yQx • xQy) dx dy

twisted tube surface area. The product/*Re is given by

/*Re
2(-Q.)
(20)
X -ymoi
TXz(x = 1, y) + TXZ(X = - 1 , y)] dy

•J [ryz(x,y = -y m a x) + Tyz(x,y = y m a x )] dx (28)

It should be pointed out that the pressure gradient, Q 2 , used in
equation (20) is defined along a constant (x, y) path in the moving where
coordinate system, which is a helical path. In contrast, the pressure dvz
gradient measured by a manometer will be Qz- This linear pressure rxz(x = ± 1 , y) 1+
dx
gradient depends on the location of the manometer probe in the (x, m
y) plane. However, along the center line, both pressure gradients are :
dvz
Tyz(x,y = ±y m a x) = i +-
identical. oy H2
Boundary Conditions. The equations of motion in the stream- and T is the dimensionless shear stress.
function vorticity form, viz. equations (12, 16) and (17), have rota- In addition the mechanical energy balance is also used to check the
tional symmetry about the z-axis. As these equations must be solved accuracy. For an incompressible Newtonian fluid under fully devel-
numerically, we must take full advantage of any symmetry in the flow oped steady flow it is given by (see Bird, et al. [11])
field.
i rymm f [
Because of the rotational symmetry at every 90 deg, only one
quadrant of the tube needs to be considered. It is convenient to choose
the region of interest a s — l ^ x ^ O , — l ^ y ^ O . The boundary con-
X \VzQz
-1 t / - J r a I
+ \VxQx
[
+ VyQy
+ "z — (yQx - xQy) dy dx
ti

ditions for stream function and axial velocity are specified as zero
along the solid walls.
X I

-1
I
fymm

J-ym„
*„dy dx h(v2)2e„ (29)

vz(x = -l,y) = uz(x,y = -1) = 0 (21) where

dUx\2 dvx dvv
4>(x = -l,y) = \P(x,y = - l ) = 0 (22) *„ = 2
dx •y dy dx
For vorticity, the boundary condition along the wall is specified in dux dvz TV
terms of stream function as shown below. + 1 1— ou3
dz dx H
d2\j/ -K d vz
«z(* = - l , y ) = (23) <>Uy dvz
dx2
H X
dx - + -&V, +2 -I— 5u2 (30)
dz dy H y dz H
2
i i\ d ip TT dvz
(24) where,
dy1 H dy
d
It is clear that along the center lines, the rotational symmetry implies y
the following, dy.
dx
vz(x,y = 0) = vz(x = 0 , y ) (25) and eu is the friction loss factor.
Making use of equations (28) and (29), the following example il-
yP(x,y = 0)=\P(x = 0,y) (26) lustrates the closure errors. The pair of numbers given in the paren-
thesis gives the percent of the closure error in energy and momentum
b>z(x,y = 0 ) = wz(x = 0,y) (27)
balances, respectively. For H = 20 and Q2 = -4000, (Re = 1094), the
Equations (21-27) provide the basic set of boundary conditions re- error for a 15 X 15 grid was (0.41,0.13). It came down to (0.13,0.1) for
quired to solve for the flow field. Additional conditions on ux,uy,Qx, a grid size of 21 X 21. However, as H becomes smaller the decrease in
and Qy can be derived using symmetry arguments. the closure error becomes more pronounced. For example for H = 2.5
Method and Validity of Numerical Solution. Due to the com- and Qz = -3000, (Re = 709) the error for a 15 X 15 grid was (6.10,
plexity of the basic equations (12, 16) and (17), a finite difference 10.71). It came down to (2.52, 4.28) for a grid size of 21 X 21.
method is used to solve the above equations for axial velocity, stream To further verify the numerical results, flow solutions were obtained
function and vorticity, respectively. All the derivatives are approxi- for a grid of 31 X 31 for selected flow situations. Comparing /*Re
mated by second order central difference approximations over a values for a grid of 21 X 21, the change in /*Re with the finer grid was
uniform grid in the region - K i ^ 0 , - H y ^ 0 . Note that the basic not more than 1 percent and in general it was below 0.5 percent for
equations (12,16) and (17) depend on the secondary variables ux, vy, H > 5. For the case of H = 2.5 and high Reynolds numbers, the dif-
Qx and Q y . The secondary velocities vx, vy are calculated from the ference was about 3-4 percent. This indicates that the requirements
discretized form of the defining equations (13a) and (136), while Qx of very fine grids become important for the case of H = 2.5 at a
and Qy are calculated from the discretized form of equations (10) and Reynolds number higher than, say 400. It appears then that the cen-
(11). A relaxation type of iterative procedure is used to solve the flow tral difference scheme adopted in this study begins to fail to give ac-
equations. curate solutions for H = 2.5 at the higher Reynolds number (Re =
Accuracy of the numerical results were estimated through a number 709). In the light of the type of secondary flows predicted in this study,
of procedures. First, the limiting case of a straight tube was simulated other schemes such as those proposed by Spalding [13], Raithby and
by setting H = 1000. The /*Re was computed to be 14.25 for this case. Torrance [14] and Raithby [15] should be employed to extend the
From an analytical solution [12] for flow through straight square tube, range of H and Re of this study.

Journal
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 Results and Discussions
Qualitative aspects of the flow field are best illustrated with per-
spective drawing and contours of such quantities as axial velocity and
secondary velocity. The perspective drawing of axial velocity profile
is shown in Fig. 2 for the case of H = 20, Qz = -2000 (Re = 553) and
H = 2.5, Qz = -2000 (Re = 479), respectively. The profile for H = 20
is similar to the flow profile in a straight square duct. However, for
H = 2.5 the profile is similar to Poiseuille flow in a circular tube (i.e.,
axial velocity near the corner is close to zero). If the twisted tube is
projected along the axis on to the (x, y) plane, one will see an inner
circular core of radius a and an annular ring corresponding to the solid
portions of the pipe. As H becomes small the resistance to flow in the
annular portion of the pipe becomes large. Hence the bulk of the fluid
flows through the inner core and the axial velocity near the corners
is small as is evident in Fig. 2(b). Another observation, from Fig. 2 is
that the swirling secondary motion does not alter the axial velocity
profile significantly. This is in contrast to flow in curved tubes where
the axial velocity profile is significantly different from the parabolic
profile for small curvature ratios and large Reynolds numbers (See
Masliyah and Nandakumar [6]).
The normalized axial velocity along the center line (x, y = 0) and
along the diagonal (x,y = x) are shown in Fig. 3 for the case of H =
20 and 2.5 for an axial pressure drop of Qz = —2000. The velocity
profile for a straight tube (H = <») and a reference parabolic profile
are included for comparison. The latter two profiles are very close to
the centre line velocity profile indicating that the velocity profile along
the centre line is little affected by the tube twist. The velocity profiles
along the diagonal are shown in Fig. 3 in a compressed scale, where
the diagonal is projected onto the x-axis. For comparison, the velocity
profile along the diagonal for a straight tube and a reference parabolic
profile are also shown. For H = 20, the computed points are close to
the curve for a straight square duct, while for H = 2.5, the profile
approaches the parabolic profile for a circular tube of unit radius.
It is not surprising to find that the swirling motion in laminar flow
does not alter the axial velocity profile. It can be shown through a
simple example (White [12], problem 3-11) that the parabolic profile Fig. 2(6) H - 2.5; Qz = - 2 0 0 0
for a Poiseuille flow in circular tubes is unaltered by superimposing Fig. 2 Axial velocity profile
a pure swirling motion, i.e., vr = 0, vg = vo(r). For a pure swirling
motion the axial component of the NSE is uncoupled from the radial
and the angular components. Hence, for a constant pressure gradient
in the axial direction, one obtains the well known parabolic profile.
However, for a non-circular geometry one can expect only a qualitative
similarity with this example. /
Although the definition of stream function as given in equations
(13) is helpful in solving the momentum equations, a contour of the
stream function does not reflect the strength of the secondary flow. / / / /
This is because the axial velocity appears in the definition of stream (vz:
function (equation (13)) and it is the dominant component of the y.' / J • H = 20.0, y = 0 (center line)
velocity vector. Hence a contour of the stream function resembles very // / I a H = 2.50, y = 0 (center line) v
y/ / n/ Parabolic Profile (center line); (y ) 7 =
much the contour of the axial velocity. The strength of the swirling
* / Straight Square Tube (center line)
flow is perhaps best illustrated by showing the secondary velocity /
vector at each grid point in the (x, y) plane. This is done in Fig. 4. / o H = 20.0 (along diagonal)
/ / Straight Square Tube (along diagonal)
Figure 4(a) is for H = 2.5 and Qz = -2000 and is typical for all H > y I D H = 2.5 (along diagonal)
2.5 studied here. Note that the swirling motion is strongest in the / Parabolic Profile (circular core)
annular region and almost nonexistent in the inner core. Figure 4(b) i / i i i i
shows the swirling motion for an extreme case ofH = 1.0, Qz = —10. -0.2

A converged solution for this case was obtained with some difficulty.
For this case both the axial and the secondary flows were insignificant
in the annular region. In contrast to the cases for H > 2.5, the swirling
motion is fairly strong in the inner core, as seen in Fig. 4(b).
In order to appreciate the relative importance of cross flow with
respect to the axial flow, a perspective contouring of the quantity, S
= (vx2 + vy2)1/2/vz is shown in Fig. 5 for the cases, H = 20,Q* = -2000
and H = 2.5, Q2 = -2000. It is clear from Fig. 5(a) that the axial ve-
locity vz dominates the inner core, while the secondary flow is im-
portant in the annular region. Figure 5(b) shows essentially the same
characteristic feature. The only difference is that in Fig. 5(a) the ratio
of secondary to axial velocity reaches maximum very close to the
corner, while in Fig. 5(b) this maximum is reached further inside in
Fig. 3 Normalized axial velocity profile along center line and diagonal
the annular region. The important point to note is that the strong
secondary flow in the annular region will help enhance the convective
heat and mass transfer processes near the wall. The maximum values
of S for H = 2.5 and 20 are 2.24 and 0.21, respectively.
The quantity /*Re is shown as a function of Reynolds number for
each H in Fig. 6. Also shown is the reference line for a straight square
tube. In contrast to straight tube, the product /*Re for a twisted tube
is not independent of Reynolds number. The secondary flow inertial
effects in a twisted tube become important at a Reynolds number of

788 / VOL. 103, NOVEMBER 1981 Transactions of the ASME

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 V W N W - s
x\\\SNNNNN\ .
-.s\\SS\\\\\<
\\\\\\\VA\^
, w \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

* ^ \ \\\\^
* \ \ \ \ \ \ s

' W W \ \ ' ' ' ' '

Fig. 4(a) H = 2.5; Qz - -2000

' / / / / / / / • •vNNW W \
• ' ' ' / / / / ///SS- W W W\v
" W W W
W W W
' ' ' / ///SS/S**- W.WWS .
wXxww
^-^V^NVWNSNN .
- NNNSNV

• -^w^wl *S/S////// / S •• - -
' ^ W W \ 1\
- ^WWX -
• ^wssvC
->wwv •
• ' ^ W \ s \
•' * *w w w .
• • • > v \ s \ W WN
V
W W W \ N
* '* \ \ W WN

Fig. 4(6) H = 1; Qz = - 1 0
Fig. 4 Secondary velocity portrait

about 100. Figure 6 can be used in conjunction with the expressions

for Re and /*Re (equations (18) and (20), respectively), to evaluate
the corresponding values of the axial pressure gradient, Qz. Using the
definition of/*Re in equation (20) and the energy equation (29), it
can be seen that /*Re and the friction loss factor, e„, become identical
at the limiting case of a straight tube with H = <=. The difference be-
tween /*Re and e„ is due to the additional terms involving H, Qx and
Qy of the square brackets on the left-hand side of equation (29). The
relative difference between the two quantities was found to become
Fig. 5(6) H = 2.5; Qz = - 2 0 0 0
more important at lower H; but the difference was never higher than
4 percent for all cases with H > 2.5. In other words, if the power re- Fig. 5 Relative importance of secondary velocity with respect to axial ve-
locity
quirement is calculated from [-Qz (vz) (4y max )], then it matches the
viscous dissipation term [\(vz) 2(j>v\ within 4 percent. Hence from an
engineering point of view, the power requirement can be calculated
from the center line pressure gradient, Qz, alone which is embodied
in the /*Re data. - Analytical Solution for
Straight Square Tube

Conclusion
The Navier-Stokes equation, the macroscopic force and energy
balance equations, and the viscous dissipation term are all presented
in a rotating frame of reference. Using of a rotating coordinate system
simplified the equations of motion for a fully developed, laminar flow
of a Newtonian fluid in a twisted tube to a two-dimensional problem.
The resulting set of coupled elliptic partial differential equations are
solved numerically using a relaxation type of procedure.
The axial velocity profile was observed to be unaffected by the
swirling motion. As the twist rate is increased the axial velocity profile
changes from that of a straight square tube to that of a straight cir-
cular tube. The secondary velocity is most important in the annular 10 100 1000

region near the wall and is almost nonexistant in the inner core for Reynolds Number
H > 2.5.
Fig. 6 Variation of A'Re with Reynolds number

Journal
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