Viscous dissipation of a power law fluid in an oscillatory pipe flow

The flow field in an oscillatory pipe is studied theoretically for a genera lized newtonian fluid model. The velocity and temperature fields are obtain ed for the case in which the mean velocity caused by the pressure gradient is of the same order as the oscillation velocity. The momentum and the ener gy conservation equations are solved and analytic expressions for the veloc ity and temperature fields are found. The nature of the velocity and temper ature profiles is explored for a range of parameters. In general, it can be concluded that the temperature rise within the fluid increases with the sp eed of oscillation as the value of the power parameter increases. An effect ive heat transfer coefficient is calculated and plotted as a function of th e normalized oscillation speed. The cases of a newtonian, shear-thinning an d shear-thickening fluid are analyzed.