The Effects of Main-Flow Radial Velocity on the Stability of Developing Laminar Pipe Flow

Abstract

In studying the stability due to axisymmetric disturbances of the developing flow of an incompressible fluid in the entrance region of a circular tube, a generalized version of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation was derived which takes account of the radial velocity component in the main flow. The new terms in the generalized Orr-Sommerfeld equation are inversely proportional to the Reynolds number. The resulting eigenvalue problem consisting of the disturbance equation and the boundary conditions was solved by a direct numerical integration scheme along with an iteration procedure. Neutral stability curves and critical Reynolds numbers at various axial locations are presented. A comparison of the present results with those from the conventional Orr-Sommerfeld equation in which the effect of the main-flow radial velocity is neglected, shows that inclusion of the radial velocity contributes to a destabilization of the main flow.