LONG-WAVE PERISTALTIC TRANSPORT OF A COMPRESSIBLE VISCOUS-FLUID IN A FINITE PIPE SUBJECT TO A TIME-DEPENDENT PRESSURE-DROP

Axisymmetric viscous flow in a long pipe, driven by the pulsating pres sure gradient and the wall deformation, is investigated. This kind of a flow is relevant to the peristaltic transport of blood due to the he art pumping along with the synchronic expansion/constriction of the ve ssel. Following the spirit of the lubrication theory, a reduced system of equations is derived. An obtained explicit solution demonstrates c rucial role of peristalsis on the total fluid flux through the pipe. I n order to account for the inertia effect, a model based on an averagi ng of the momentum equation using an a priori parabolic flow pattern a cross the pipe, is also derived.