Past exam of the viscous flow course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / 3 / b / Solution

Write $H(x^{\prime })=h^{\prime }(x^{\prime })$ and $p_x^{\prime }=d{p}^{\prime }/d{x}^{\prime }$ below, so the subscript $x$ in this shorthand denotes differentiation with respect to $x^{\prime }$. The vertical pressure gradient is zero, and integrating $u_{z^{\prime }{z}^{\prime }}^{\prime }=p_x^{\prime }$ twice with the wall boundary conditions gives the local Couette-Poiseuille flowThe first two terms are Couette flow due to the moving plate; the last is plane Poiseuille flow due to the local pressure gradient. Its dimensionless volume flux per unit width isUse the Leibniz integral rule and incompressibility to differentiate this integral:Thus the flux is independent of position, andThe normal velocity can then be recovered from incompressibility:It is zero on the lower wall by construction and zero on the upper wall by the constant-volume flux relation. This supplies the remaining component of the leading velocity field.

The endpoint pressure conditions are matching conditions, not an assertion that the lubrication approximation remains valid at arbitrarily large dimensional $x$. On an outer length scale $R$, a viscous pressure variation is of size $\mu U/R$, whose ratio to the inner scale isEven an outer inertial pressure scale $\rho U^2$ has ratioConsequently the gap pressure is much larger than either outer variation. Matching to fluid with a common ambient pressure at both ends, and taking that value as zero gauge pressure, givesThere is an overlap region $1\ll |x^{\prime }|\ll {\delta }^{-1}$ before the wall slope becomes order one. The infinite endpoints represent matching through that region. An externally imposed pressure difference comparable with $P$ would change these conditions and the resulting volume flux; equal outer pressure is the physical assumption being used here.