Experimental Determination of the Critical Reynolds Number for Pulsating Poiseuille Flow

Abstract

The stability of fully developed Poiseuille flow pulsating under a harmonically and a nonharmonically varying pressure gradient was studied experimentally. The characteristics of turbulent plugs were determined for both steady and pulsating flow by means of pressure transducers. It was found that (a) for oscillating, stable Poiseuille flow, the phase angles determined experimentally agree well with those determined theoretically; (b) for the same mean pressure gradient, pulsating flow is more stable than the corresponding steady Poiseuille flow; (c) in pulsating flow, the presence of one or more inflection points is necessary but not sufficient for instability; and (d) the curves of the critical Reynolds number versus the relative amplitude of the periodic component of the cross-sectional mean velocity reach their maximum when at least one inflection ring continues to exist a time period 53 percent of the period of oscillation.