Peristaltic Pumping of a Two-layered Particulate Suspension in a Circular Cylindrical Tube

A two-layered suspension, consisting of a core region (central layer) of a particle-fluid mixture and a peripheral region (outer layer) of particle free Newtonian fluid, flow induced by sinusoidal peristaltic waves has been investigated. The coupled differential equations for both the fluid and particle phases have been solved and expressions for the flow characteristics, namely, the flow rate, pressure drop and the friction force have been obtained. It is found that the pressure drop increases with the particle concentration in the core region and also with the flow rate but decreases indefinitely with the amplitude ratio. The magnitude of the pressure drop is found to be lower in two-layered analysis than the corresponding value in one-layered. The friction force possesses the characteristics similar to the pressure drop with respect to any given parameter. As an application to the study, an attempt to estimate the contribution of peristalsis towards the flow of blood in small vessels has been made.