ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR A STEADY FLOW OF ENCLOSED ROTATING-DISKS

Low-Reynolds-number flow plays an important role in the centrifugal se paration of fluid particles under microgravity conditions and also in micromechanics due to the miniaturization of fluid mechanical parts. I n this situation, the governing equations may be simplified. Here an a nalytical solution is presented for the steady flow of an incompressib le viscous fluid between two finite disks enclosed by a cylindrical co ntainer for small Reynolds number (Re less-than-or-equal-to 10). The g eneral solution is valid for all choices of the aspect ratio (delta) a nd different cases of disk to cylinder rotation rates (s). An expressi on for the torque acting on the disk is obtained. The tangential veloc ity distribution is calculated and presented graphically for different values of delta and s. Known results in the literature for a single r otating disk and similar problems follow as a particular case of the g eneral solution presented.