Field equations for the steady flow of power-law dilatant fluids normal to
an array of long circular cylinders have been solved numerically using the
finite difference method. The cylinder-cylinder interactions have been simu
lated using the two widely used concentric cylindrical cell models, namely,
the Free surface and Zero vorticity cell models. Extensive theoretical res
ults on the individual components of flow resistance arising from pressure
and shear forces are presented for a range of physical and kinematic condit
ions. Furthermore, information on the variation of vorticity and power-law
viscosity is also presented to provide some physical insights into the natu
re of the flow field. The results presented herein encompass the following
ranges of physical and kinematic conditions: epsilon = 0.5 and 0.9; Re = 0.
1, 1 and 10 and 1 less than or equal to n less than or equal to 1.8. An exc
ellent match between theory and experiments for Newtonian fluids demonstrat
es the utility of this simple approach to the modeling of momentum transfer
in fibrous beds and tubular heat exchangers. However, no suitable experime
ntal results are available for dilatant fluids in these systems.