LAMINAR FLOW INSIDE CIRCULAR SECTOR DUCTS

Abstract

The fluid flow inside ducts is of great importance in engineering, because it is present in most domestic, commercial, and industrial application equipments. In this work was presented a hybrid analytical-numerical solution to hydrodynamic problem of fully developed laminar flow inside circular sector ducts. In order to facilitate the analytical treatment and the application of the boundary conditions, a Conformal Transform was used. Thereafter, the Generalized Integral Transform Technique was applied on the momentum equation to obtain the velocity field. Numerical results were obtained for quantities of practical interest, such as maximum and minimum velocity, Fanning friction factor, Poiseuille number, Hagenbach factor, and hydrodynamic entry length. The results were compared, as much as possible, with the parameter values available in the literature and they presented a great agreement, with a difference less than 1.5%. Keywords: Integral Transform, Conformal Transform, Laminar Flow, Newtonian Fluid, Circular Sector.