Fluid Flow Pinched by Near-Wall Bingham Plastic Zones: Simulation Study

Computational Fluid Dynamics tools and methods offer means for analyzing engineering and research concepts whose performance can be evaluated and understood with a reasonable accuracy. This study concerns the steady-state planar flow of a fluid pinched by (semi-solidified) Bingham plastic zones. The contractions limit the fluid flow and contribute to a pressure drop across the semi-orifice feature in the channel. Hence the authors study various flow scenarios and zone configurations in the channel with respect to the yield stress level, size and inlet velocity. The simulated results are presented as plots of pressure distribution in the channel and velocity profiles as well as graphs of pressure drop vs average flow velocity.