Cosserat Modeling of Turbulent Plane-Couette and Pressure-Driven Channel Flows

Abstract

The theory of micropolar fluids based on a Cosserat continuum model is utilized for analysis of two benchmarks, namely, plane-Couette and pressure-driven channel flows. In the obtained theoretical velocity distributions, some new terms have appeared in addition to linear and parabolic distributions of classical fluid mechanics based on the Navier-Stokes equations. Utilizing the principles of irreversible thermodynamics, a new dissipative boundary condition is developed for angular velocity at flat plates by taking the couple-stress vector into account. The obtained results for the velocity profiles have been compared to results of recent and classical experiments. This paper demonstrates that continuum mechanical theories of higher orders, for instance Cosserat model, are able to describe a complex phenomenon, such as hydrodynamic turbulence, more precisely.